familyCaryophyllaceae
subfamilyCaryophyllaceae subfam. Alsinoideae
genusCerastium
speciesCerastium alpinum
subspeciesCerastium alpinum subsp. alpinum
Cerastium alpinum subsp. alpinum
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 5. Treatment on page 78.
Plants perennial, tufted, forming clumps or mats, taprooted, stoloniferous, rarely rhizomatous. Flowering shoots usually erect from decumbent base, 6–20 cm. Leaves: flowering shoots with blades narrowly elliptic or lance-elliptic to oblanceolate, apex ± acute, evenly, but not densely pubescent; those near base and on sterile shoots not marcescent, blade oblanceolate to obovate, apex round. Inflorescences (1–)2–4 flowered. Pedicels usually long, slender, divaricate in well-grown plants. Petals 1.5–2 times as long as sepals. 2n = 72, 108.
Phenology: Flowering spring.
Habitat: Low-arctic tundra, cliff ledges, talus
Elevation: 0-300 m
Distribution
Greenland, Man., Nfld. and Labr., N.W.T., Nunavut, Ont., Que., Sask., n Europe (Scandinavia).
Discussion
Selected References
None.
Lower Taxa
None.