Eremogone congesta (Rocky Ground Sandwort) - photos and description
Flowers cymose
Sepals blunt-tipped and acute
General: Tufted perennial with linear leaves, having the appearance of a clump of grass.
Flowers: Flowers are small, white in colour, 5 petals, flowers to 10 mm diameter, in cymes. Plants glabrous. Plants begin to flower in late May.
Leaves: Basal leaves up to 6 cm in length. Stems leaves are few, threadlike, opposite.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 30 cm, the plants observed were to 15 cm in height.
Habitat: Dry plains and slopes in the Wood Mountain and Cypress uplands.
Abundance: Rare, listed as an S3 (as of 2021) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.
Origin: Native.
Synonym: Listed in some of the field guides we use as Arenaria congesta.
How to identify this species: 1) leaves 2-6 cm, and 2) cyme dense (Taxonomic Reminder for Recognizing Saskatchewan Plants). Part of the key to identifying Arenaria species in Budd's Flora is the shape of the tip of the sepals, whether they are "rounded or obtuse" versus "acute to acuminate". I found both types of sepals, so this plant trait hasn't been useful in its identification.
When and where photographed: Photos taken June 2nd, dry grassland, Old Man on His Back Conservation Area, about 400 km southwest of our home in Regina, SK.