''Minuartia 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
The Klamath Mountains are a rugged and lightly populated mountain range in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the western United States. As a mountain system within both the greater Pacific Coast Ranges and the California Coast R ...
.
It is a member of the
serpentine soil
Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially anti ...
s flora in the area, growing amidst
Jeffrey Pine
''Pinus jeffreyi'', also known as Jeffrey pine, Jeffrey's pine, yellow pine and black pine, is a North American pine tree. It is mainly found in California, but also in the westernmost part of Nevada, southwestern Oregon, and northern Baja Califo ...
s with other rare local plants such as the
Mt. Eddy lupine (''Lupinus lapidicola'').
[Nelson, T. W. and J. P. Nelson. (1991). ''Minuartia stolonifera'' (Caryophyllaceae), a new species from the serpentine of Scott Mountain, Siskiyou County, California. ''Brittonia'' 43:1 17-19.]
Description
''Minuartia stolonifera'' is a
stolon
In biology, stolons (from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as runners, are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton; typically, animal stolons are external s ...
iferous perennial herb forming a low mat of hairless herbage 10 to 20 centimeters high with thin, erect flowering stems. The tiny rigid needle-like leaves are under a centimeter long and a millimeter wide.
The hairy, glandular
inflorescence bears flowers with five white petals each under a centimeter long.
References
External links
Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfileFlora of North AmericaPhoto gallery
stolonifera
Endemic flora of California
Flora of the Klamath Mountains
Natural history of Siskiyou County, California
Plants described in 1991
Critically endangered flora of California
{{Caryophyllaceae-stub