Taxonomy
Family: Portulacaceae
Habitat
Cool woods.
Associates
Distribution
Nova Scotia west to MN, south along mountains to NC, TN, and northern GA.
Morphology
Low herbaceous plant from a rounded corm. Leaves opposite, mostly 3-6 cm long and 1.0-1.5 cm wide, diamond-shaped or lance-ovate, acute at the base with a distinct petiole. Flowers with 5 petals, white to pink with deeper pink stripes. Sepals 2, surrounding a small fruiting capsule at maturity.
Notes
Flowers mid March to mid June.
Wetland indicator: Facultative Upland
Ephemeral. Sometimes found growing with C. virginica and rarely hybridizes with it. Not found in the Chicago Region.
References
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of
Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.
Michael Hough © 2010 |