Stellaria umbellata
Stellaria umbellata | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
(unranked): | Angiosperms |
(unranked): | Eudicots |
(unranked): | Core eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Caryophyllaceae |
Genus: | Stellaria |
Species: | S. umbellata |
Binomial name | |
Stellaria umbellata Kar. & Kir. | |
Synonyms | |
Alsine baicalensis | |
Stellaria umbellata is a species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common names umbellate starwort and umbrella starwort. It is native to western North America from Alaska and northwestern Canada to the southwestern United States, as well as parts of Asia, including Siberia. It grows in subalpine and alpine climates in mountain forests and riverbanks. It is a rhizomatous perennial herb producing a slender prostrate stem up to about 20 centimeters long, sometimes forming clumps or mats. The stem is lined with pairs of oval leaves each up to about 2 centimeters long. The inflorescence is an umbel-shaped array of several flowers each on an arching or erect pedicels. The flower has five pointed green sepals each no more than 3 millimeters long. There are occasionally tiny white petals within the calyx of sepals, but these are generally absent.