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Rock-loving Sandwort - Arenaria congesta var. lithophila
Other Names:
Eremogone congesta var. lithophila
General Description
Perennial from a branched caudex, forming loose mats. Stems erect, simple, 5–30 cm. Leaves filiform, flexuous or rigid, glabrous, 2–8 cm long, shorter above. Inflorescence many-flowered, mostly open, glabrous; pedicels up to 6 mm long. Flowers: sepals glabrous, ovate to lanceolate, scarious-margined, 3–6 mm long; petals oblong, 5–8 mm long. Capsules glabrous, 3–6 mm long (adapted from
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Diagnostic Characteristics
Variety lithophila can be distinguished from the other varieties in Montana by its more open inflorescence (the flowers are not capitate or crowded).
Range Comments
AB and SK south through ID, MT, WY, CO and UT (Kartesz 2009).
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 66
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Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Habitat
Open, rocky, sagebrush slopes and hillsides; 800-3100 m (Hartman et al. 2005, Fl. North America, Vol. 5).
Ecology
POLLINATORS The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap:
Bombus melanopygus and
Bombus sylvicola (Wilson et al. 2010, Koch et al. 2012, Williams et al. 2014).
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication
Koch, J., J. Strange, and P. Williams. 2012. Bumble bees of the western United States. Washington, DC: USDA Forest Service, Pollinator Partnership. 143 p.- Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
- Williams, P., R. Thorp, L. Richardson, and S. Colla. 2014. Bumble Bees of North America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 208 p.
- Wilson, J.S., L.E. Wilson, L.D. Loftis, and T. Griswold. 2010. The montane bee fauna of north central Washington, USA, with floral associations. Western North American Naturalist 70(2): 198-207.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- Culver, D.R. 1994. Floristic analysis of the Centennial Region, Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Montana State University, Bozeman. 199 pp.
- Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
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