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.
| Stellaria alsine | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Caryophyllaceae |
| Genus: | Stellaria |
| Species: | S. alsine
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| Binomial name | |
| Stellaria alsine | |
| Synonyms | |
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Stellaria uliginosa Murray | |
Description
editBog stitchwort is a rhizomatous perennial plant, with smooth, four-angled stems up to 40 cm (16 in) tall.[2] Its leaves are opposite and narrow, up to 13 mm (0.51 in) long, with untoothed margins but a few marginal hairs towards the leaf-base.[2] The flowers are borne in cymes of 1–5, arising from the axils of the higher leaves. Each flower is around 6 mm (0.24 in) in diameter, with 10 stamens, 3 stigmas, five lanceolate–triangular, green-coloured but scarious-margined sepals, and five slightly shorter white petals.[2] The petals are divided into two almost to their base with the two halves angled apart,[2] so that the two halves of each petal lie over parts of adjacent sepals.[3]
Ecology
editBog stitchwort grows in various types of wetland habitat; in the British Isles, it is especially characteristic of areas poached by cattle.[4] It flowers in spring and early summer.[2]
Distribution
editBog stitchwort is widespread in central and western Europe, but is rarer in eastern and southern Europe and the northern half of Scandinavia.[5] It is thought to be native to eastern parts of North America, but to be an introduced species in the Pacific Northwest.[2] It has also become naturalised in South America, in Asia, where it has become a weed of rice fields,[6] and on the Kerguelen Islands in the southern Indian Ocean, where it is an aggressive invasive species.[7]
Taxonomy
editStellaria alsine was first described by Johann Friedrich Carl Grimm in 1767.[2] The species has also been widely referred to under the junior synonym Stellaria uliginosa.[8]
References
edit- ^ NatureServe (2024). "Stellaria alsine". Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Morton, John K. (1993). "Stellaria Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 421. 1753. Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 193. 1754". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae, Part 2. Flora of North America. Vol. 5. Oxford University Press. pp. 99–114. ISBN 978-0-19-522211-1.
- ^ Farmer, Carl. "Bog stitchwort, Stellaria uliginosa". West Highland Flora. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
- ^ "Stellaria uliginosa". Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora. Biological Records Centre. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
- ^ Jalas, Jaakko; Suominen, Juha, eds. (1988). Distribution of Vascular Plants in Europe. Atlas Florae Europaeae. Vol. 3. Cambridge University Press. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-521-34272-8.
- ^ "Stellaria alsine Grimm, bog stitchwort". Go Botany. Native Plant Trust. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
- ^ Comité français de l'UICN (IUCN French Committee) & IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG). "Stellaria alsine". Global Invasive Species Database. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
- ^ Llewellyn, Peter (2012-02-12). "Stellaria alsine, bog stitchwort". Wild Flowers of Europe, Australia, Ireland and Britain. Retrieved June 7, 2020.