Key to Arenaria
View taxon page for Arenaria
(For a list of species in Arenaria, use the above link.)
Jepson Manual glossary definitions can be seen by moving your cursor over words underlined with dots.
1. Annual;
leaf 
Organ arising from a stem, generally composed of a stalk (petiole) and a flat, expanded, green, photosynthetic area (blade); distinguished from a leaflet by the presence in its axil of a bud, branch, thorn, or flower; sometimes with lateral, basal appendages (stipules); either simple (toothed, lobed, or dissected but not divided into leaflets) or compound (divided into leaflets).
blade 
Expanded portion of a leaf, petal, or other structure, generally flat but sometimes rolled, cylindric, wavy, or cupped.
±
ovate 
Egg-shaped (i.e., widest below the middle) in two dimensions (i.e., in one plane), as a leaf.
,
veins generally 3–5
..... A. serpyllifolia var. serpyllifolia 1' Perennial herb; leaf blade
lanceolate 
Narrowly elongate, widest in the basal half, often tapered to an acute tip.
to oblanceolate to
linear 
Elongate, with nearly parallel sides; narrower than elliptic or oblong.
or needle-shaped,
vein ± 1
2. Flowers few to many in
cyme 
1. In flowering plants excluding Asteraceae and some other groups, a branched inflorescence in which the central or uppermost flower opens before the peripheral or lowermost flowers on any axis. see 2. In Asteraceae and some other groups, a cyme-like inflorescence is one in which the central or uppermost inflorescence units (e.g., heads in Asteraceae, umbels enclosed by involucres in Eriogonum), instead of individual flowers, develop and mature before the peripheral or lowermost inflorescence units on any axis.
,
terminal or
axillary 
Pertaining to or within an axil, especially a leaf axil.
;
petals 1.5–3.5 mm;
stem rounded, dull,
hairs minute, down-curved
..... A. lanuginosa var. saxosa 2' Flower 1, axillary; petals 5–6 mm; stem angled or grooved, shiny,
glabrous except at
nodes 
Position on a stem from which one or more structures (especially leaves, buds, branches, or flowers) arise.
..... A. paludicola
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