Species: Cerastium beeringianum ssp. earlei

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Cerastium beeringianum ssp. earlei (Rydb.) Hultén

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TAXONOMY

Family:

Caryophyllaceae

Genus:

Cerastium

Species Synonyms:

Cerastium alpinum var. capillare (Fern. & Wieg.) Boivin
Cerastium beeringianum var. capillare Fern. & Wieg.
Cerastium earlei Rydb.

Common Names:

Beering’s chickweed

DISTRIBUTION

Canada:

Yukon Territory - Northwest Territories - Ellesmere Island - Baffin Island - Labrador, south to British Columbia - southwestern Alberta - northern Saskatchewan - northeastern Manitoba

Saskatchewan:

northwestern Saskatchewan; Lake Athabasca

Ecoregion:

Tazin Lake Upland

HABITAT

Saskatchewan:

crevices on rocky shores

RARITY STATUS

Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):

Endangered

Nature Conservancy Status:

G5 S1T1

Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:

None

COSEWIC Status:

None

Cerastium beeringianum ssp. earlei is endangered in Saskatchewan because it is rare. This species is highly regionally restricted in the province and most local populations are small. No immediate threats have been identified.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION

Height:

10 – 20 cm

Roots:

rhizomatous

Stems:

tufted, ascending to prostrate, mat forming, slender, straw-coloured, glandular pubescent, viscid

Leaves:

basal leaves 4 – 8 mm long, 1 – 3 mm wide, oblong to obovate; cauline leaves few, opposite, sessile, lacking axillary fascicles, oblong to lanceolate or spatulate, tomentose, pubescence firm

Inflorescence:

flowers solitary to few in leaf axils; bracts not scarious; pedicels long, glandular pubescent

Flowers:

calyx distinct, 3.5 – 6 mm long, green, often purple tinged, inner calyx scarious margined; corolla < 2 times as long as calyx, 6 – 8 mm long, white; styles 5

Fruits:

capsule about twice as long as calyx, dehiscing by 10 teeth

*KEY TO CERASTIUM* IN SASKATCHEWAN**
*C. alpinum and C. beeringianum ssp. earlei may intergrade in Saskatchewan

1 Stems lax, weak; fruiting pedicels hooked; lacking leafy offshoots	C. nutans var. nutans
1 Stems firm; fruiting pedicels straight or curved; with leafy offshoots	2

2 Corolla shorter than or equal to calyx	C. fontanum ssp. vulgare
2 Corolla distinctly longer than calyx (up to 2 – 3 times as long)	3

3 Corolla twice as long as calyx; leaves linear to narrowly ovate; upper leaves with axillary fascicles	C. arvense ssp. strictum
3 Corolla less than twice as long as calyx; leaves oblanceolate to lanceolate or spatulate; upper leaves without axillary fascicles	4

4 Tips of leaves of sterile basal offshoots with shiny, weak, woolly hairs; calyx truncate at base; corolla 7 – 20 mm long; pubescence of long, flexuous hairs	C. alpinum
4 Tips of leaves without weak, shiny woolly hairs; calyx rounded at base; corolla 6 – 8 mm; pubescence of long straight, strigose hairs	C. beeringianum ssp. earlei