| Minuartia pusilla | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Core eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Caryophyllaceae |
| Genus: | Minuartia |
| Species: | M. pusilla |
| Binomial name | |
| Minuartia pusilla (S.Watson) Mattf. |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Arenaria pusilla |
|
Minuartia 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 herb producing a slender, erect stem no more than 5 centimeters tall. The tiny green concave leaves are thready to lance-shaped, up to 5 millimeters long and no more than 1.5 millimeters wide. The tiny flower has five pointed sepals just a few millimeters long. There may be five white petals which are roughly the same length as the sepals or slightly smaller, though sometimes the flowers lack petals.