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Western Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Long-stalk Starwort
Stellaria longipes Goldie

JPG -- Species Photo JPG -- Distribution Map

Family: Pink (Caryophyllaceae)
Flowering: May-August
Field Marks: The 5 white petals are a little longer than the sepals and notched at the tip. The flower stalks stand upright, rather than curved. The capsules are dark brown.
Habitat: Most moist areas.
Habit: Perennial, tufted herb with creeping rhizomes.
Stems: Erect or ascending, branched or unbranched, up to 10 inches long, smooth or sparsely hairy.
Leaves: Opposite, simple, ascending, linear-lancolate, up to 1 inch long, pointed at the tip, tapering to the base, smooth, without teeth.
Flowers: 1 or few at the tip of the stem; stalks upright, not curved, slender, up to 1 1/2 inches long.
Sepals: 5, green, free from each other, lanceolate to oblong, up to 1/4 inch long, pointed at the tip, smooth.
Petals: 5, white, free from each other, a little longer than the sepals, notched at the tip.
Stamens: 10.
Pistils: Ovary superior, smooth.
Fruits: Capsules narrowly ovoid, dark brown, longer than the sepals, smooth.

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