Caryophyllaceae A.L. de Jussieu
Pink family.
Caryophyllaceae, pink family.
Alsinaceae (incl.)
Vegetative morphology. Plants perennial herbs; vegetatively proliferating by bulbils or fragmentation (Cerastium regelii, Minuartia rossii, Sagina nodosa, and Stellaria longipes), or not vegetatively proliferating by bulbils or fragmentation. Taproot present, or absent. Caudex present, or absent. Leaves opposite; marcescent. Petioles absent. Blades 1–40 mm long; 0.1–9 mm wide. Blades appressed to the stem, or spreading, or divaricate; herbaceous, or succulent.
Reproductive morphology. Flowering stems glabrous, or hairy. Flowering stem hairs puberulent, or pubescent, or pilose, or villous; simple. Flowering stems glandular hairs present, or glandular hairs absent. Flowers solitary, or in inflorescences. Inflorescence a dichasium (if applicable). Flowers small, less than 5 mm in diameter or length, or medium-sized, 5–15 mm in diameter or length, or large, more than 15 mm in diameter or length. Calyx sepals 4, or 5; free, or fused (into a tube at the base). Calyx green, or purple, or green and purple; herbaceous, or herbaceous and scarious; glabrous, or hairy. Calyx hairs glandular and non-glandular; white or translucent, or transparent with red cross-walls (if applicable). Calyx teeth equal or nearly so (if applicable). Petals free; shorter than the calyx, or same length as the calyx, or longer than the calyx; 4, or 5; white (usually), or pink, or purple; obovate, or lanceolate, or oblanceolate, or spatulate, or obtriangular; unlobed, or shallowly lobed, or deeply cleft. Stamens 5, or 8, or 10; filaments glabrous. Anthers yellow, or red; ellipsoid, or ovoid. Nectaries present (in the family; sometimes very difficult to see in small arctic flowers). Gynoecia superior. Carpels syncarpous; 3, or 4, or 5. Ovaries ovate, or urceolate, or oblong, or subglobose; glabrous. Styles free; 0.4–3.5 mm long. Stigmas per style 1. Placentation free central. Fruit with calyx persisting; dry; a capsule; spherical, or ellipsoid, or ovoid, or elongate-cylindrical, or oblong, or urceolate; dehiscent; opening with teeth at the top of the capsule (splitting sometimes almost to the base). Fruit surface appearing veinless. Seeds 0.2–4.5 mm long; with surfaces smooth, or verrucose, or tuberculate, or rugose.
Illustrations. • Arenaria capillaris. Plant densely tufted from a stout, somewhat woody base. Photo used in exhibit 'Wildflowers of Mount Revelstoke National Park'. CMN, Photo-library, 577–769. • Arenaria humifusa. Plant with tufted or loosely matted stems from a subterranean creeping rhizome. Greenland, Godhavn (Osterdal), July 21, 1960. Photographed by Raymond Wood. CMN, Photo-library, 578–528. • Cerastium alpinum. Calyx base narrowly angled; petals longer than the sepals, 2-lobed (the notch 0.2–0.25x the length of the petal); small pedicel bract leaves. Nunavut, Rankin Inlet, 62°48'N, 92°06'W. Aiken and Brysting 01–052. CAN. • Cerastium arcticum. Isolated plant with densely cespitose growth; growing in dry, calcareous gravel. Nunavut, Salliq (Coral Harbour), more recent graveyard, near town on road to the airport, 64°08'13"N, 83°09'53"W. Aiken and Brysting 01–080. CAN. • Cerastium arvense. Inflorescence a dichasium with 3–10 flowers; small bract leaves with a distinct scarious margin. Photo by R. Borge. With permission of the Botanical Museum, University of Oslo, Norway. • Cerastium beeringianum. Inflorescence a dichasium with 2–5(-7) flowers. Nunavut, Southampton Island, Salliq (Coral Harbour), coastline east of the Northern Store, 64°08'13"N, 83°09'53"W. Aiken and Brysting 01–075. CAN. • Cerastium cerastoides. Inflorescence a dichasium with 1–4 flowers; plant all glabrous except for a line of fine glandular hairs at one side of the flowering stems. Norway, Hedmark, Sjusjøen. Photo by R. Borge, July 1971. With permission of the Botanical Museum, University of Oslo, Norway. • Cerastium regelii. Leaves ovate or obovate, glabrous (sometimes ciliated at the margins), somewhat fleshy and shiny; plants in the high Arctic rarely flower. Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Scoresby Bay, 79°53'N, 71°33'W. Aiken 98–036. CAN. Photograph by Mollie MacCormac. • Honckenya peploides subsp. diffusa. Flowering plant growing in sand and fine gravel. Manitoba, Churchill, Beech Bay, in the tidal estuary of the Churchill River, south of the Port, 58°44'N, 94°10'W. Aiken and Brysting 01–018. CAN. • Minuartia biflora. Plant growing in crevices among the rocks. Norway, Sør-Trøndelag, Røros, Osthåmmaren (serpentine). Photo by R. Elven, June 1973. • Minuartia rossii. Isolated plants growing in an area with less than 5% vegetation cover. Nunavut, Ellesmere Island, Scoresby Bay, 79°53'N, 71°33'W. Aiken 98–025. CAN. Photograph by Mollie MacCormac. • Minuartia rubella. Plant in fruit, growing in dry, sun baked dolomite gravel. Manitoba, Churchill, Beech Bay, in the tidal estuary of the Churchill River, south of the Port, 58°44.30'N, 94°08.06'W. Aiken and Brysting 01–034. CAN. • Minuartia stricta. Plant collected in polygons in Cassiope-Vaccinium heath. Greenland, Disko, Nordfjord, Stordal, 70°00'N, 54°09'W, alt. 100m. Andersen, Fredskild, and Hanfgarn 514, 13. Aug. 1975. O. • Sagina cespitosa. Plant forming small, rather compact, hemispherical tufts, 1–9 cm in diameter. Norway. Photo by R. Elven. • Sagina nivalis. Plant in fruit, growing in disturbed ground at the edge of a road; flowering stems radiating from the base of a central rosette. Nunavut, Rankin Inlet, near the graveyard, 62°48'N, 92°06'W. Aiken and Brysting 01–046. CAN. • Sagina nodosa subsp. borealis. Flowering plant growing in dry, sun baked dolomite gravel. Manitoba, Churchill, Beech Bay, in the tidal estuary of the Churchill River, south of the Port, 58°44.30'N, 94°08.06'W. Aiken and Brysting 01–032. CAN. • Silene acaulis. Plants forming compact, hemispherical or flat cushions up to 50 cm in diameter. Iceland, Bolungarvík, Stigahlið, alt. 400–590, 66°11'N, 23°22'W. Photo by A. Brysting, June 1995. • Silene involucrata. Petals white (milky) and much excerted; calyx fused, campanulate to ovoid with 10 dark purple veins. Nunavut, Baffin Island, Iqaluit, 26 July 1982, J.M. Gillett 19056. • Silene sorensis. Plants in flower, growing in gravel. Fused, ovoid shaped calyx that is inflated and with prominent reddish lines; white, notched petals which are much excerted. N.W.T., Banks Island, Aulavik National Park, 9 July, 1999, Aiken 99–036. CAN. Scale bar in cm. • Silene taimyrensis. Plants collected in rich silty slope. N.W.T., Anderson River area, Cape Bathurst E side, brook system N of river from Lake McKinay, 0.7–1.5 km from sea, 70°29'N, 127°48'W. R. Elven, 7.-8. Aug. 1999. O. • Silene uralensis. N.W.T., Banks Island, Sachs Harbour, Plants growing in a sheltered gully, 27 July 1981, J.M. Gillett 18859. CAN. • Stellaria crassifolia. Flowering plant, delicate and glabrous in all parts with freely branching and densely matted, slender stems. N.W.T., Tuktoyaktuk, near Pingo Park Lodge, 69°26'N, 133°01'W. Aiken and Brysting 01–116. CAN. • Stellaria humifusa. Plants growing prostrate on and sprawling across imperfectly drained mud flats in extensive salt meadow. Manitoba, Churchill, Beech Bay, in the tidal estuary of the Churchill River, south of the Port, 58°44'N, 94°10'W. Aiken and Brysting 01–022. CAN. • Stellaria longipes. Plant similar in appearance to S. monantha but fresh green and shiny. Nunavut, Rankin Inlet, adjacent to the graveyard, 62°48'N, 92° 06'W. Aiken and Brysting 01–057. CAN. • Viscaria alpina. Plant with a compact tuft of basal leaves, and flowering stem with 2–3 pairs of leaves. Norway, Buskerud, Ål, Vats. Photo by R. Borge, 9 July 1974. With permission of the Botanical Museum, University of Oslo, Norway.
Cite this publication as: ‘S.G. Aiken, M.J. Dallwitz, L.L. Consaul, C.L. McJannet, L.J. Gillespie, R.L. Boles, G.W. Argus, J.M. Gillett, P.J. Scott, R. Elven, M.C. LeBlanc, A.K. Brysting and H. Solstad. 1999 onwards. Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. Version: 29th April 2003. http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/’. Dallwitz (1980) and Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993, 1995, 2000) should also be cited (see References).
