Western Wetland Flora
Field Office Guide to Plant Species
Stellaria umbellata Turcz. ex Karel. & Kir.
- Family: Pink (Caryophyllaceae)
- Flowering: July-August
- Field Marks: This starwort differs by having tiny, transparent bracts, oblong to ovate leaves, and petals, if present, much shorter than the sepals.
- Habitat: Moist soil in woods and thickets.
- Habit: Perennial herb with slender rootstocks.
- Stems: Sprawling to upright, weak, branched, up to 1 foot long, smooth.
- Leaves: Opposite, simple, oblong to ovate, up to 1 inch long, pointed at the tip, tapering to the base, smooth except for cilia near the base.
- Flowers: Few to several in umber-like cymes, subtended by tiny, transparent bracts; flower stalks very slender, smooth, recurred at the tip.
- Sepals: 5, green with whitish borders, up to 1/6 inch long, pointed at the tip.
- Petals: 5 or absent, very tiny, much shorter than the sepals.
- Stamens: 10.
- Pistils: Ovary superior; styles 3.
- Fruits: Capsules oblongoid to ovoid, up to 1/4 inch long, smooth; seeds many, light brown.
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