Cerastium diffusum

Persoon

Syn. Pl. 1: 520. 1805.

Common names: Dark-green mouse-ear chickweed
Introduced
Synonyms: Cerastium atrovirens Babington Cerastium tetrandrum Curtis
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 5. Treatment on page 84. Mentioned on page 75, 83.

Plants annual, with slender taproot. Stems decumbent or ascending, diffusely branched, 7.5–30 cm, densely covered and viscid with short, glandular-hairs; small axillary tufts of leaves absent. Leaves not marcescent, sessile distally, spatulate to pseudopetiolate proximally; blade 5–10 × 2–4 mm, covered with short, glandular and eglandular hairs; proximal blades oblanceolate, apex obtuse; cauline blades ovate or oblong-ovate, apex acute. Inflorescences lax, 3–30-flowered cymes; bracts lanceolate to ovate, herbaceous, glandular-pubescent. Pedicels straight, ultimately erect in fruit, slender, 2–15 mm, much longer than capsule, glandular. Flowers 4 (–5) -merous; sepals lanceolate, 4–7 mm, margins narrow distally, apex acute or acuminate, glandular-pubescent, hairs usually not projecting beyond apex; petals ca. 3 mm, ca. 0.75 times as long as sepals, apex 2-fid; stamens 4 (–5); styles 4 (–5). Capsules narrowly cylindric, nearly straight, 5–7.5 mm, 1–1.5 times as long as sepals; teeth 8 or 10, erect, margins convolute. Seeds reddish-brown, 0.5–0.7 mm, bluntly tuberculate; testa not inflated. 2n = 72.


Phenology: Flowering spring.
Habitat: Sandy places on coast, rarely inland in similar places and on railway ballast
Elevation: 0-300 m

Distribution

V5 172-distribution-map.gif

Introduced; Calif., Ill., Europe

Discussion

This species was abundant on the sandy shore at Fort Bragg, Mendocino County, California, in 1985 and should be looked for elsewhere. The entirely herbaceous bracts, short capsule, and the floral parts usually in fours identify this small weedy species.

Previous reports of this species (as Cerastium tetrandrum) by J. A. Steyermark (1963) from Missouri and M. L. Fernald (1950) from Virginia are referable to C. pumilum and C. brachypetalum, respectively.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"-1.5timesaslongassepals" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.

... more about "Cerastium diffusum"
perigynous +  and hypogynous +
glandular-pubescent +
2-fid;acuminate;acute;acute;obtuse +
John K. Morton +
Persoon +
elliptic to broadly ovate +  and linear +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
linear +  and spatulate lanceolate or broadly ovate +
not succulent +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
glandular-pubescent +
lanceolate +  and ovate +
reduced +
herbaceous +  and scarious +
8 +  and 6 +
cylindric +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (0.75 cm7.5 mm <br />0.0075 m <br />) +
oblong-ovate +  and ovate +
Dark-green mouse-ear chickweed +
3-30-flowered +
dish--shaped +
expanded +
Calif. +, Ill. +  and Europe +
0-300 m +
straight +  and curved +
central +  and peripheral +
inconspicuous +
unisexual +  and bisexual +
stalked +  and simple +
Sandy places on coast, rarely inland in similar places and on railway ballast +
disc--shaped +  and dish +
pseudopetiolate +  and sessile +
not marcescent +
connate +
spatulate +
translucent +  and purplish +
swollen +
3 +  and 5 +
crassinucellate +  and bitegmic +
campylotropous +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
perigynous +  and hypogynous +
fugacious +
0.75 times as long as sepals +
3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br /> (?) +
Flowering spring. +
reddish-brown +
tuberculate +
compressed +  and angular-obovate +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.07 cm0.7 mm <br />7.0e-4 m <br />) +
persistent +
distinct +
lanceolate +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
Introduced +
ascending;decumbent +
7.5 cm75 mm <br />0.075 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
subterminal +
[30 +  and 5 +
roughened +  and papillate +
distinct +
clavate +  and filiform +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
Cerastium atrovirens +  and Cerastium tetrandrum +
rooting +  and rhizomatous +
Cerastium diffusum +
Cerastium +
species +
not inflated +
10 (?) +  and 8 (?) +
divided +
10 +  and 8 +
rhizomatous +  and taprooted +
pubescence of simple hairs or stalked glands +  and glabrous +
19 +, 18 +, 17 +, 15] +, 13 +  and [9 +