Alpine sandwort

Description

Minuartia obtusiloba is a perennial alpine herb known by the common names alpine sandwort and twinflower stitchwort. It is native to the mountains of western North America from the High Sierra of California to the Colorado Rockies north to Alaska. Its range may extend into far eastern Russia. This is a low plant forming mats or clumps and bearing small thimble-shaped flowers with curving white petals. Minuartia is a genus of flowering plants commonly known as sandworts in the family Caryophyllaceae. Minuartias are small annual or perennial plants which grow in otherwise inhospitable conditions such as on rocky ledges and in stony soil. The genus is widely distributed in the northern hemisphere, mainly distributed in Europe, in the Mediterranean region, and north Africa, southwest Asia, and the Caucasus Mountains. Many Minuartia species were formerly classed in the genus Arenaria, and the obsolete genus Alsine. In 2014, the polyphyletic Minuartia sensu lato was recircumscribed, with many of the species transferred to other genera, including Cherleria, Eremogone, Facchinia, Mcneillia, Minuartiella, Mononeuria, Pseudocherleria, Rhodalsine, Sabulina, and Triplateia. Minuartia sensu stricto is characterized by the following features: leaves linear-setaceous; 5 acute sepals with 3, 5, or 9-veins; 5 white petals; 3 styles, forming 3-parted capsules. The genus was named for Juan Minuart (1693–1768), a Spanish botanist and pharmacist.