Grove or blunt-leaf sandwort, moehringie ou sabline latériflore

Arenaria lateriflora Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 423. 1753; A. lateriflora var. angustifolia H. St. John; A. lateriflora var. taylorae H. St. John; A. lateriflora var. tenuicaulis Blankinship

Plants perennial. Rhizomes forming extensive network. Stems ascending or decumbent, often branched, terete, 5-30 cm, uniformly retrorsely pubesescent. Leaves sessile or subsessile; petiole 0.1-1 mm; blade 1-3-veined, broadly elliptic to oblong-elliptic or oblanceolate, 6-30(-35) × (2-)5-10(-17) mm, margins granular to minutely serrulate-ciliate, apex obtuse or rounded. Inflorescences 1-5-flowered; bracts 1-3 mm, margins scarious. Pedicels erect, 3-30 mm. Flowers: sepals 5, midrib not keeled, ovate or obovate, herbaceous portion oblong to elliptic, 1.7-2.8(-3) mm, margins narrow, apex mostly obtuse or rounded; petals 5, 3-6 mm, ca. 2 times as long as sepals. Capsules subglobose, 3-5 mm, 11/ 2-2 times as long as sepals. Seeds reniform, 1 mm, smooth. 2n = 48.

Flowering spring-early summer. Moist or dry woodlands, meadows, gravelly shores; 50-2700 m; St. Pierre and Miquelon; Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr., N.S., Nunavut, Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask., Yukon; Alaska, Colo., Conn., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Mo., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.H., N.J., N.Mex., N.Y., N.Dak., Ohio, Oreg., Pa., R.I., S.Dak., Utah, Vt., Va., Wash., W.Va., Wis., Wyo.; Europe; Asia.

Four varieties of Moehringia laterifolia have been described based on variation in leaf width and pubescence; they have been little used, and the variation appears not to be correlated with geography.