Close-up of a flower of mountain sandwort as seen atop Grassy Knoll, Gifford Pinchot National Forest..........June 3, 2014. Note the petals which are about 1.5-2.5 times longer than the sepals.
The
photo at right illustrates the appearance of mountain sandwort. 2-5 pairs of stem
leaves are apparent, with the lowest the longest. The inflorescence is an open
cyme of several flowers. Photographed on the northern slopes of Mt. Adams.........July
2005.
Mountain sandwort is a small perennial with numerous slender rhizomes which forms loose mats or patches of plants up to 20 cm in diameter. The herbage of the stems is glabrous below and glandular-pubescent on the upper stems and amid the inflorescence. The erect flowering stems rise from 5-30 cm high. The numerous basal leaves are all narrowly linear, erect or ascending, and somewhat recurved. The basal leaves measure 2-4 cm long and from 0.5-1 mm wide. The individual leaves are somewhat flexible and soft in texture (not sharp as in Arenaria aculeata). The 2-4 pairs of stem leaves are about half as long as the basal leaves.
The stems are spreading to erect and often branched. They rise 5-15 cm high and are 3 to 4-angled in cross-section. The numerous leaves are linear-elliptic to lanceolate in shape with acute tips. The leaves range from 2-5 cm long and 3-15 mm wide.
The flowers are found in small, open cymes at the terminus of the stems. The sepals are ovate in shape with obtuse to somewhat pointed tips and they range from 3-4.5 mm long. The sepals are also somewhat membranous-margined and purplish in color. The 5 white petals range from 1.5-2.5 times longer than the sepals.
Mountain sandwort may be found from sagebrush plains to the rocky slopes at timberline in the mountains.
Mountain sandwort may be found from Alaska south in the Cascade, Olympic and Rocky Mts. to California and northern Nevada. It is found eastward to Alberta and Montana. It is also found in Eurasia.
In the Columbia River Gorge it may be found between the elevations of 3400'-4800' between Silver Star Mt. in the west and Big Huckleberry and Indian Mts. in the east.
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