Minuartia
Encyclopedia
Minuartia is a genus
of small flowering plant
s, one of those commonly known as "sandwort
" or "stitchwort
". The genus is classed within the family
Caryophyllaceae
, the pink family, characterised by its opposite and decussate leaves.
Minuartias are small plants which grow in otherwise inhospitable conditions such as on rocky ledges and in stony soil. They are found in alpine
environments. The genus is widely distributed, being native in Asia, Europe and North America.
Many Minuartia species were formerly classed in the genus Arenaria
, and the obsolete genus Alsine. Minuartia sedoides was previously placed in Cherleria.
The genus was named for J. Minuart (1693–1768), a Spanish botanist and pharmacist.
Species include:
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of small flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s, one of those commonly known as "sandwort
Sandwort
Sandwort is the common name of several plants, which may be members of the following genera:*Arenaria*Minuartia*MoehringiaSee also Wort plants...
" or "stitchwort
Stitchwort
Stitchwort is the common name of several plants of the following genera:* Minuartia* Stellaria...
". The genus is classed within the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Caryophyllaceae
Caryophyllaceae
The Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactaceae and Polygonaceae...
, the pink family, characterised by its opposite and decussate leaves.
Minuartias are small plants which grow in otherwise inhospitable conditions such as on rocky ledges and in stony soil. They are found in alpine
Alpine climate
Alpine climate is the average weather for a region above the tree line. This climate is also referred to as mountain climate or highland climate....
environments. The genus is widely distributed, being native in Asia, Europe and North America.
Many Minuartia species were formerly classed in the genus Arenaria
Arenaria (plant)
Arenaria is a genus of flowering plants, within the family Caryophyllaceae.Species of this genus are among those plants commonly known as "sandworts". Several species formerly classified within Arenaria are now classed in the genera Spergularia, Eremogone and Minuartia.Species include:*Arenaria...
, and the obsolete genus Alsine. Minuartia sedoides was previously placed in Cherleria.
The genus was named for J. Minuart (1693–1768), a Spanish botanist and pharmacist.
Species include:
- Minuartia arctica - Arctic sandwort
- Minuartia austromontana - Columbian sandwort
- Minuartia biflora - mountain sandwort
- Minuartia bosniaca - Bosnian sandwort
- Minuartia californicaMinuartia californicaMinuartia californica is a species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common name California sandwort. It is native to valleys, foothills, and mountains in Oregon and California, where it grows in many types of habitat, including chaparral, vernal pools, and roadsides...
- California sandwort - Minuartia caroliniana - pinebarren sandwort
- Minuartia cherlerioides
- Minuartia cismontanaMinuartia cismontanaMinuartia cismontana is a species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common name cismontane minuartia. It is native to Oregon and northern and central California, where it occurs in woodland and chaparral habitat, often on serpentine soils. It is similar to Minuartia californica and M...
- Minuartia cumberlandensisMinuartia cumberlandensisMinuartia cumberlandensis is a rare species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common names Cumberland stitchwort and Cumberland sandwort. It is endemic to the Cumberland Plateau near the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River in Tennessee and Kentucky...
- Cumberland sandwort - Minuartia dawsonensis - rock sandwort
- Minuartia decumbensMinuartia decumbensMinuartia decumbens is a rare species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common names The Lassics sandwort and Lassicus stitchwort. It is endemic to California, where it is known from only a single occurrence in the isolated inland mountains of the North Coast Ranges in Trinity...
- Lassicus sandwort - Minuartia dirphyaMinuartia dirphyaMinuartia dirphya is a rare species of plant in the Caryophyllaceae family. It is endemic to Mt. Dirfys on Evvia in Greece. It is restricted to the higher peaks of this single mountain on an island with many endemic plant species. Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation. It is...
- Minuartia douglasiiMinuartia douglasiiMinuartia douglasii is a species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common name Douglas' stitchwort. It is native to the chaparral and oak woodlands in much of California, southern Oregon, and parts of Arizona. It is an annual herb growing to a maximum height of 30 centimeters with...
- Douglas' sandwort - Minuartia drummondii - Drummond's sandwort
- Minuartia elegans
- Minuartia filiorum - threadbranch sandwort
- Minuartia gerardii
- Minuartia glabra - Appalachian sandwort
- Minuartia godfreyi - Godfrey's sandwort
- Minuartia graminifolia (syn. Alsine rosani)
- Minuartia groenlandicaMinuartia groenlandicaMinuartia groenlandica, the Greenland stitchwort or mountain stitchwort, is a rare perennial which grows low to the ground in clumps linked together at the bottom. It has three to five pairs of leaves in a linear opposite pattern along the length of the slender stem. The main stem breaks into one...
- Greenland stitchwort, mountain sandwort - Minuartia howelliiMinuartia howelliiMinuartia howellii is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common names Howell's stitchwort and Howell's sandwort. It is native to the Klamath Mountains of southern Oregon and northern California, where it grows in serpentine soils in chaparral and woodland habitat...
- Howell's sandwort - Minuartia laricifolia
- Minuartia macrantha - House's sandwort
- Minuartia macrocarpa - longpod sandwort
- Minuartia marcescens - serpentine sandwort
- Minuartia michauxii - rock sandwort
- Minuartia muscorum - Dixie sandwort
- Minuartia nuttalliiMinuartia nuttalliiMinuartia nuttallii is a species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common names Nuttall's sandwort and brittle sandwort. It is native to western North America from southwestern Canada to California and Nevada, where it grows in several types of habitat, including rocky and barren...
- Nuttall's sandwort - Minuartia obtusilobaMinuartia obtusilobaMinuartia obtusiloba is a perennial alpine herb known by the common names alpine sandwort and twinflower stitchwort. It is native to the mountains of western North America from the High Sierra of California to the Colorado Rockies north to Alaska. Its range may extend into far eastern Russia...
- twinflower sandwort - Minuartia patula - pitcher's sandwort
- Minuartia pusillaMinuartia pusillaMinuartia pusilla is a species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common names annual sandwort and dwarf stitchwort. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to Utah, where it grows in mountain forests, chaparral, and other habitat. It is a petite...
- annual sandwort - Minuartia roseiMinuartia roseiMinuartia rosei is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common names peanut sandwort and peanut stitchwort. It is endemic to the mountain ranges of northwestern California, where it grows in serpentine soils in oak and pine woodlands and forests...
- peanut sandwort - Minuartia rossii - Ross' sandwort
- Minuartia rubellaMinuartia rubellaMinuartia rubella is a species of flowering plant in the pink family known by several common names, including beautiful sandwort, Arctic sandwort, and boreal stitchwort...
- Minuartia sedoides - mossy cyphel; dwarf cherleria. Confined to high mountains in Europe.
- Minuartia stoloniferaMinuartia stoloniferaMinuartia stolonifera is a rare species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common names Scott Mountain sandwort and stolon sandwort. It is endemic to Siskiyou County, California, where it is known from only two occurrences in the Scott Mountains of the Klamath Range...
- Minuartia strictaMinuartia strictaMinuartia stricta is a species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common names bog stitchwort and rock sandwort. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout much of the northernmost Northern Hemisphere from the lower Arctic into the alpine climates of mountainous areas...
- bog sandwort - Minuartia tenella - slender sandwort
- Minuartia uniflora
- Minuartia viscosa
- Minuartia yukonensis - Yukon sandwort