Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Stellaria longipes is a species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common name longstalk starwort. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring throughout the northernmost latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. It grows in a wide variety of habitat types, including tundra and taiga and many areas farther south with subalpine and alpine climates. It is extremely variable in morphology, its form depending on both genetic makeup and environmental conditions. It has a widely varying number of chromosomes. In general, it is a rhizomatous perennial herb forming mats or clumps, or growing erect. The stems may be short and simple or with sprawling and highly branched. The linear to lance-shaped leaves are usually 1 to 4 centimeters long and are oppositely arranged in pairs. The inflorescence bears one or more flowers, each on a short pedicel. The flower has five pointed green sepals each a few millimeters long. There are five white petals each divided into two lobes, sometimes shallowly, but often so deeply there appear to be two petals. The plant is gynodioecious, with some flowers having functional male and female reproductive parts and others being only female. There are two subtaxa. The rarer of the two, ssp. arenicola, is limited to the sand dunes adjacent to Lake Athabasca in central Canada.

Plant type

Perennial herb

Size

11 in Tall

Form

Upright

Growth rate

Moderate

Calscape icon
Color

White, Green

Flowering season

Spring

Soil description

Adaptable, tolerant of sand, loam and clay.

Plant communities

Lodgepole Forest, Red Fir Forest, Subalpine Forest, Wetland-Riparian, Yellow Pine Forest

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 14 likely

Confirmed Likely

Agrochola pulchella

Rascal Dart

Agrotis malefida

Venerable Dart

Agrotis venerabilis

Citrus Cutworm

Egira curialis