CARYOPHYLLACEAE

PINK FAMILY

Ronald L. Hartman (except Silene)

Annual, biennial, perennial herb, rarely dioecious, taprooted or rhizome generally slender
Leaves simple, generally opposite; stipules generally 0; petiole generally 0; blade entire, sheath generally 0
Inflorescence: cyme, generally open; flowers few–many or flower solitary and axillary; involucre generally 0
Flower generally bisexual, radial; hypanthium sometimes present; sepals generally 5, ± free or fused into a tube, tube generally herbaceous between lobes or teeth; awns generally 0; petals generally 5 or 0, generally tapered to base (or with claw long, blade expanded), entire to 2–several-lobed, blade generally without scale-like appendages (inner surface), generally without ear-like lobes at base; stamens generally 10, generally fertile, generally free, generally from ovary base; nectaries generally 0; ovary superior, generally 1-chambered, placentas basal or free-central, styles 2–5 or 1 and 2–3-branched
Fruit: capsule or utricle (rarely modified, dehiscent), generally sessile
Seeds: appendage generally 0
Genera in family: 85 genera, 2400 species: widespread, especially arctic, alpine, temp, n hemisphere; some cultivated (Agrostemma, Arenaria, Cerastium, Dianthus, Gypsophila, Lychnis, Saponaria, Silene, Vaccaria ).

MINUARTIA

SANDWORT

Annual, perennial herb, erect to mat-forming, taprooted or rhizomed
Leaf: blade thread-like to awl-shaped or narrowly oblong; veins or ribs 1–3
Inflorescence: cyme, terminal or axillary; flowers 2–many, open to ± dense, or flower solitary; peduncles and pedicels 0.5–35+ mm
Flower: hypanthium short, obscure; sepals 5, ± free, 1.9–7 mm, ± lanceolate to ovate, glabrous to glandular-hairy; petals 5 or 0, 0.7–10 mm, entire or notched; stamens arising from an obscure to prominent disk; styles 3, 0.3–2 mm
Fruit: capsule, narrowly ovoid to widely elliptic; teeth 3, ascending to recurved
Seeds 1–many, reddish tan to reddish, purplish, or blackish brown
Species in genus: 120 species: arctic to Mex, n Africa, s Asia
Etymology: (J. Minuart, Spanish botanist & pharmacist, 1693–1768)
Reference: [McNeill 1980 Rhodora 82: 495–502]

Native

M. stricta (Sw.) Hiern

Perennial, cespitose, 0.8–2.5 cm, green, glabrous; taproot < 1.5 mm diam; rhizomes and stolons 0
Stem decumbent to erect
Leaves 2–9 mm, 0.3–0.6 mm wide, > internodes, needle-like, ± straight, flexible, mostly near base; axillary leaves well developed
Flower: sepals 2–3.2 mm, acute to acuminate, margin not incurved, vein 1 or 3, often prominent; petals 0
Seed 0.5–0.6 mm; margin thick, reddish brown
Chromosomes: 2n=26,30
Ecology: Uncommon. Granitic gravels, sandy wet spots, sedge meadows, alpine
Elevation: 3500–3900 m.
Bioregional distribution: c&s High Sierra Nevada, White and Inyo Mountains
Distribution outside California: circumboreal; to Colorado
Flowering time: Aug
Synonyms: Arenaria rossii Richardson misapplied
Horticultural information: TRY.