Habit: Perennial herb, prostrate (non-flowering stems) or ascending to erect to mat-forming, taprooted.
Leaf: needle-like to narrowly linear; vein 1.
Inflorescence: terminal, open to head- or umbel-like; flowers 1--many; peduncles, pedicels 0--55 mm.
Flower: hypanthium present; sepals 5, +- free, 3--7.2 mm, lance-linear to ovate, glabrous to glandular-hairy; petals 5, 2--18 mm, entire or +- notched; stamens on hypanthium; ovary +- superior, styles 3, 2.5--3 mm.
Fruit: capsule, ovoid to urn-shaped; teeth 6, ascending to recurved.
Seed: 1--9, +- gray, dark brown, red-brown, yellow-tan, black-purple, or +- black.
Species In Genus: 90 species: northern temperate, especially western North America, Eurasia.
Etymology: (Greek: solitary or deserted + seed, allusion uncertain)
Note: Based in part on molecular evidence (Harbaugh et al. 2010 Intl J Plant Sci 171:185--198), 2 subgenera of
Arenaria treated here as
Eremogone.
Unabridged Synonyms: Arenaria subg. Eremogone (Fenzl) Fenzl; Arenaria subg. Eremogoneastrum F. WilliamsJepson eFlora Author: Ronald L. Hartman (deceased) & Richard K. Rabeler
Reference: Hartman & Rabeler 2004 Sida 21:237--241
Unabridged Reference: Hartman, Rabeler, & Utech 2005 FNANM 5:56--70Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)Key to Eremogone
Previous taxon: Engellaria obtusaNext taxon: Eremogone aculeata