Androsace septentrionalis explained

Androsace septentrionalis (pygmyflower rockjasmine, pygmy-flower rock-jasmine, northern rockjasmine,[1] Northern fairy candelabra,[2] Chinese: bei dian di mei) is a species of annual herbaceous plant in the Primrose family (Primulaceae), native to North America,[2] Asia, and Europe.

Description

It is a small plant with a rosette of leaves and umbels of small white flowers held on multiple stems.[2] It is parasitized by the oomycete species Peronospora agrorum.[3]

Androsace septentrionalis subsp. subumbellata is a small plant with naked stems arising from a basal rosette of simple leaves. The leaves are toothed and the stems terminate in an umbel of flowers. The very small flowers are five-cleft, and the sepals are persistent. The involucre bracts are linear. This subspecies is listed as threatened in Minnesota, where it has been recorded growing in sandy, xeric habitats, around ancient beach ridges and sand prairies.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ITIS Standard Report Page: Androsace septentrionalis . Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database . Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) . 2010-04-15 .
  2. Web site: TWC Staff. NPIN: Androsace septentrionalis (Pygmyflower rockjasmine). Native Plant Information Network (NPIN). Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. 2008-12-17 . 2010-04-15.
  3. Constantinescu . O. . An annotated list of Peronospora names . 1991 . Thunbergia . 15.
  4. Book: Barbara Coffin. Lee Pfannmuller. Minnesota's Endangered Flora and Fauna. 1988. U of Minnesota Press. 978-0-8166-1689-3. 49.