Stellaria alsine explained

Stellaria alsine, the bog stitchwort, is a species of herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the carnation family Caryophyllaceae. It grows in bogs and marshes in Europe and parts of North America.

Description

Bog stitchwort is a rhizomatous perennial plant, with smooth, four-angled stems up to 40cm (20inches) tall.[1] Its leaves are opposite and narrow, up to 13mm long, with untoothed margins but a few marginal hairs towards the leaf-base.[1] The flowers are borne in cymes of 1–5, arising from the axils of the higher leaves. Each flower is around 6mm in diameter, with 10 stamens, 3 stigmas, five lanceolate–triangular, green-coloured but scarious-margined sepals, and five slightly shorter white petals.[1] The petals are divided into two almost to their base with the two halves angled apart,[1] so that the two halves of each petal lie over parts of adjacent sepals.[2]

Ecology

Bog stitchwort grows in various types of wetland habitat; in the British Isles, it is especially characteristic of areas poached by cattle.[3] It flowers in spring and early summer.[1]

Distribution

Bog stitchwort is widespread in central and western Europe, but is rarer in eastern and southern Europe and the northern half of Scandinavia.[4] It is thought to be native to eastern parts of North America, but to be an introduced species in the Pacific Northwest.[1] It has also become naturalised in South America, in Asia, where it has become a weed of rice fields,[5] and on the Kerguelen Islands in the southern Indian Ocean, where it is an aggressive invasive species.[6]

Taxonomy

Stellaria alsine was first described by Johann Friedrich Carl Grimm in 1767.[1] The species has also been widely referred to under the junior synonym Stellaria uliginosa.[7]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Morton, John K. . Flora of North America . 5 . Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae, Part 2 . Flora of North America Editorial Committee . . 1993 . 978-0-19-522211-1 . Stellaria Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 421. 1753. Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 193. 1754 . 99–114 . http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=200007067.
  2. Web site: Bog stitchwort, Stellaria uliginosa . West Highland Flora . Farmer . Carl . June 7, 2020.
  3. Web site: Stellaria uliginosa . Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora . . June 7, 2020.
  4. Book: Atlas Florae Europaeae . 3 . Distribution of Vascular Plants in Europe . 1988 . Jaakko . Jalas . Juha . Suominen . . 978-0-521-34272-8 . 76.
  5. Web site: Stellaria alsine Grimm, bog stitchwort . Go Botany . . June 7, 2020.
  6. Web site: Stellaria alsine . Global Invasive Species Database . . June 7, 2020 . Comité français de l'UICN (IUCN French Committee) & IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG).
  7. Web site: Stellaria alsine, bog stitchwort . Wild Flowers of Europe, Australia, Ireland and Britain . Peter . Llewellyn . 2012-02-12 . June 7, 2020.