Sagina decumbens
Encyclopedia
Sagina decumbens is a species of flowering plant in the pink family
Caryophyllaceae
The Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactaceae and Polygonaceae...

 known by the common names trailing pearlwort and western pearlwort. It is native to several areas of North America, where it can be found in many types of habitat. It is a small annual herb producing a threadlike green or purplish stem growing erect or trailing, measuring up to about 16 centimeters long. The leaves are hairless, linear in shape, and one half to two centimeters long. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

 is a solitary flower borne on a threadlike pedicel
Pedicel (botany)
A pedicel is a stem that attaches single flowers to the main stem of the inflorescence. It is the branches or stalks that hold each flower in an inflorescence that contains more than one flower....

. The flower has usually five sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...

s and five tiny white petals. There are two subspecies which differ mainly in the microscopic appearance of the seeds.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK