Paronychia argyrocoma, the silvery nailwort or silverling, is a plant species native to the eastern United States. It has a disjunct distribution, found in New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts) and the Appalachian Mountains of the Southeast (Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland) but not from New York, New Jersey or Pennsylvania in between. The species grows on rocky sites at elevations of 200–1800 m.[3][4]

Paronychia argyrocoma
In Situ at Blood Mountain, Georgia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Caryophyllaceae
Genus: Paronychia
Species:
P. argyrocoma
Binomial name
Paronychia argyrocoma
(Michx.) Nutt.
Synonyms[1][2]
  • Anychia argyrocoma Michx.
  • Paronychia argyrocoma var. albimontana Fernald
  • Paronychia argyrocoma subsp. albimontana (Fernald) Á. Löve & D. Löve

Paronychia argyrocoma is a perennial herb with a woody caudex, forming mats covering significant areas of ground. Stems are prostrate to ascending, highly branched, up to 60 cm long. Leaves are leathery, lanceolate, up to 3 cm long. Flowers are borne in glomerules (clumps) of up to 25 flowers, each greenish-brown and covered with long silky hairs and spines on the calyx lobes.[3][5][6][7][8][9][10]

References

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  1. ^ "Tropicos - Name - Paronychia argyrocoma (Michx.) Nutt". tropicos.org.
  2. ^ "Paronychia argyrocoma (Michx.) Nutt. — The Plant List". theplantlist.org.
  3. ^ a b "Paronychia argyrocoma in Flora of North America @ efloras.org". efloras.org.
  4. ^ Gleason, H. A. & A.J. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada (ed. 2) i–910. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx.
  5. ^ "v.1 1818 - The genera of North American plants, and a catalogue of the species, to the year 1817. - Biodiversity Heritage Library". biodiversitylibrary.org.
  6. ^ "v.1 - Flora boreali-americana - Biodiversity Heritage Library". biodiversitylibrary.org.
  7. ^ "v.8 (1906) - Rhodora - Biodiversity Heritage Library". biodiversitylibrary.org.
  8. ^ Löve, Áskell & Löve, Doris Benta Maria. 1965. University of Colorado Studies : Series in Biology 17: 20.
  9. ^ Radford, A. E., H. E. Ahles & C. R. Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas i–lxi, 1–1183. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.
  10. ^ Small, J. K. 1933. Manual of the Southeastern Flora i–xxii, 1–1554.