''Holosteum'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

s in the family

Caryophyllaceae 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, Cactacea ...

with 3 or 4 species native from southern Europe through central and south western Asia and in Africa. They are herbs with an annual life span, some growing as

winter annuals An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seeds, within one growing season, and then dies. The length of growing seasons and period in which they take place vary according to geographical ...

. They have slender

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...

s and thin

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

s that are upright or ascending. The genus name was given by Linnaeus, and named because of the sprawling nature of the plants: Greek holos, meaning whole or all, and osteon, meaning bone, because of the frailty of the plant. Flowers are bisexual but sometimes also unisexual and pistillate. Flowers are

hypogynous In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the pistil which holds the ovule(s) and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the bas ...

, have 5

sepals A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

that are distinct and green in color and lanceolate to ovate in shape and 2.5-4.5 mm long. Typically with no

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...

s. The flowers have 5 petals that are white to soft pink in color and are clawed. Plants typically are found as small inconspicuous early spring blooming plants with short life spans. Common names for the plants in this genus include jagged chickweeds.

Species

References

External links

Flora of North America

Jepson Manual Treatment
Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae genera {{Caryophyllaceae-stub