Cardionema ramosissimum is a perennial plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, commonly known as sandcarpet, sandmat or tread lightly. It is a small, clumping, mat-forming plant found in a number of diverse habitats throughout its range, from sandy beaches and dunes to the high elevations of the Andes mountains. Cardionema ramosissimum has a disjunct distribution throughout the Americas, and is found on the Pacific coast of North America from Puget Sound to Baja California, in central Mexico, and widely across South America, from the Andes in Colombia to most of Argentina.[2][3]
| Cardionema ramosissimum | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Caryophyllaceae |
| Genus: | Cardionema |
| Species: | C. ramosissimum
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| Binomial name | |
| Cardionema ramosissimum | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Homotypic synonyms
Heterotypic synonyms
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Description
editCardionema ramosissimum is a prostrate perennial herb with stems 5–30 cm (2.0–11.8 in) long forming dense mats, with a pubescent indumentum throughout. The stems are often obscured by numerous stipules measuring 4–8 mm (0.16–0.31 in) long that occupy the spaces between the leaves. The leaves are needle-like and finely spine-tipped, 5–13 mm (0.20–0.51 in) long and glabrous.[2][4]
The inconspicuous inflorescence consists of an axillary cyme of 1 to 5 flowers. The flowers are densely hairy throughout and have a small cup-shaped hypanthium. The 5 sepals are characterized by awns 1.5–4 mm (0.059–0.157 in) long. The fruit is a small, narrowly ovate utricle measuring 1.4–1.6 mm (0.055–0.063 in) long. The sepals become a tough, burlike structure enclosing the utricle to aid it in dispersion.[2][4]
- Uses
This thick plant forms a blanket on the sand and can be used for erosion control on beaches.
Distribution and habitat
editCardionema ramosissimum is found on both continents of the Americas, but in a disjunct distribution, nearing an amphitropical distribution but not technically qualifying as such since it reaches the tropics in the Andes.[5]
In its North American area, C. ramosissimum is found along the coast from Puget Sound in Washington south through Oregon and California into Baja California as far south as San Quintín. It is generally found immediately by the coast, and sometimes occasionally inland on hills and dunes.[3][2] It is also thought to be introduced on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia.[6]
Cardionema ramosissimum is also found throughout central Mexico. It is present in the states of Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Oaxaca, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, and Mexico City.[7]
In Colombia, this species is found at elevations of 2,600–3,125 m (8,530–10,253 ft) in the Andes of Boyacá and Cundinamarca departments.[8] In the Andes of Ecuador, it is found at elevations of 2,000–4,500 m (6,600–14,800 ft) in the provinces of Cañar, Chimborazo, Imbabura and Pichincha.[9]
In the Southern Cone of South America, this species is found widely throughout Chile and Argentina, and is also found less commonly in southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay.[10]
References
edit- ^ "Cardionema ramosissima". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- ^ a b c d Hartman, Ronald L.; Rabeler, Richard K. (2012). "Cardionema ramosissimum". Jepson eFlora. Jepson Flora Project. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ a b Rebman, Jon P.; Gibson, Judy; Rich, Karen (15 November 2016). "Annotated Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Baja California, Mexico" (PDF). Proceedings of the San Diego Society of Natural History. 45. San Diego Natural History Museum: 6, 211 – via San Diego Plant Atlas.
- ^ a b Hartman, Ronald L. "Cardionema ramosissimum". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
- ^ Simpson, Michael G.; Johnson, Leigh A.; Villaverde, Tamara; Guilliams, C. Matt (2017). "American amphitropical disjuncts: Perspectives from vascular plant analyses and prospects for future research". American Journal of Botany. 104 (11): Appendix 3. doi:10.3732/ajb.1700308. hdl:10261/168338. ISSN 0002-9122.
- ^ "Cardionema ramosissimum". E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
- ^ Villaseñor, José Luis (2016-08-05). "Checklist of the native vascular plants of México". Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad. 87 (3): 695. doi:10.1016/j.rmb.2016.06.017. ISSN 2007-8706.
- ^ Bernal, Rodrigo; Gradstein, Stephan Robbert; Celis, Marcela (2016). Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Bogotá: Universidad Nacional de Colombia. ISBN 978-958-775-727-9.
- ^ Jørgensen, Peter M., ed. (1999). Catalogue of the vascular plants of Ecuador: = Catalogo de las plantas vaculares del Ecuador. Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden. St. Louis, Mo: Missouri Botan. Garden. ISBN 978-0-915279-60-9.
- ^ Zuloaga, Fernando O.; Morrone, Osvaldo; Belgrano, Manuel J.; Missouri Botanical Garden; Instituto de Botánica Darwinion (San Isidro, Argentina), eds. (2008). Catálogo de las plantas vasculares del Cono Sur. volumen 2 : Dicotyledoneae: Acanthaceae - Fabaceae (Abarema - Schizolobium). Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden. Vol. 2. St. Louis, Mo: Missouri Botanical Garden Press. p. 1877. ISBN 978-1-930723-70-2. OCLC 294820637.
External links
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Media related to Cardionema ramosissimum at Wikimedia Commons