Stellaria cerastoides Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 422. 1753; Cerastium cerastoides var. foliosum Kozhevnikov; Dichodon cerastoides (Linnaeus) Reichenbach.

Herbs perennial, 10--20 cm tall. Stems caespitose, creeping basally, decumbent or ascending, branched distally, pubescent. Leaves linear-lanceolate, 8--20 × 1.5--2(--3) mm, apex acuminate. Cyme 3--7-flowered, rarely solitary; bracts leaflike, lanceolate. Pedicel 1.5--2 cm, glandular pubescent, recurved in fruit. Sepals broadly lanceolate, 4--6(--7) mm, 1-veined, margin membranous. Petals obovate, 8--12 mm, 2-lobed for ca. 1/4 their length. Stamens 10. Styles 3. Capsule cylindric, 10--12 mm, 6-toothed. Seeds reniform-globose, tuberculate. Fl. May--Aug, fr. Aug--Sep.

Mountain valleys near moist grasslands; 1000--2400 m (3300--5100 m in Xizang). Jilin, Liaoning, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Xizang [Afghanistan, India, ?Kashmir, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, ?Nepal, Pakistan, Russia (Siberia); N Africa, SW Asia, Europe, North America].