Minuartia michauxii var. michauxii
This post’s title is a mouthful. Only a little better are the common names Michaux’s stitchwort and Michaux’s sandwort. One article notes that the plant “is a gorgeous low-growing ground cover for dry, sandy, or rocky soils in full sun from New Hampshire to Virginia, with a disjunct population in the dunes around Lake Michigan.” Sure enough, I took today’s photograph at Illinois Beach State Park on June 7th.
© 2016 Steven Schwartzman
It reminded me of mountain pinks as soon as I saw it. Of course it’s not pink, and it doesn’t have those wonderful corkscrew stamens, but the flower is similar in size and shape, and it likes the same sort of neighborhood.
The BONAP map shows it as native in Texas, present and not rare in roughly the same ArkLaTex area where native roses can be found. I’m beginning to suspect that area of the state might have even more species that you saw in Illinois.
shoreacres
August 23, 2016 at 8:05 AM
Now that you say it I can see the resemblance in the structures, but the overwhelming lack of pink here kept my mind from making the connection to that other wildflower I’m so fond of.
Texas is at a confluence of several main botanical regions, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the northeast corner of the state has some species in common with the Midwest.
Steve Schwartzman
August 23, 2016 at 2:12 PM
If anyone, wants to buy this plant, It’s available at ArcheWild.
http://archewild.com/species-spotlight-minuartia-michauxii-rock-sandwort/
Mark Brownlee
August 28, 2016 at 9:48 PM
Thanks for the lead.
Steve Schwartzman
August 28, 2016 at 10:43 PM
Now I will have to go beaching to look for these. They do make a lovely natural garden. We do have other species hereabouts.
Steve Gingold
August 23, 2016 at 7:31 PM
Melissa knew this under the genus name Arenaria, which indicates sand (Latin arena), so a beach is a good place to look. Your mention of other species led me to notice that there are some 14 native species of Minuartia.
Steve Schwartzman
August 23, 2016 at 7:41 PM
I also knew it as Arenaria … such a gentle little plant.
jane tims
August 25, 2016 at 9:53 PM
Ah, another spectator in the arena. I don’t know when the genus name changed, but there continue to be many changes in botanical names.
Steve Schwartzman
August 25, 2016 at 10:00 PM
I don’t know if it is recommended, but I use The Plant List online which gives names and synonyms and whether or not they are ‘accepted’. Source is the Royal Botanical Garden and Kew.
jane tims
August 25, 2016 at 10:10 PM
I don’t know who has the ultimate say in nomenclature. Whatever body it is must be kept awfully busy these days, thanks to continuing DNA analysis.
Steve Schwartzman
August 25, 2016 at 10:13 PM
You are right about the DNA twist. I looked up the Arenaria I saw (Arenaria groenlandica) and it just says unresolved. I remember that species was rare in our area (Halifax). You have given my memory a walk down memory lane!
jane tims
August 25, 2016 at 10:26 PM
Speaking of walking down memory lane, look at the nine other names this species has had:
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MIMIM
Steve Schwartzman
August 25, 2016 at 10:34 PM
You can’t do better than Kew as a source!
melissabluefineart
September 27, 2016 at 9:14 AM
As an aside, from growing up in New York, when I hear Kew Gardens my first thought is of the section of Queens with that name:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kew_Gardens,_Queens
Steve Schwartzman
September 27, 2016 at 9:40 AM
That is interesting. Was this somewhere you liked to go?
melissabluefineart
September 27, 2016 at 9:43 AM
To tell the truth, I barely ever even visited the place. The name is so familiar because of the subway line I took as part of each trip into Manhattan from the suburb on Long Island where I grew up. One of the stations along the way was for Kew Gardens. New York has some elevated “subway” lines, as in Chicago, but the one I regularly traveled wasn’t one of them, so I couldn’t see any part of Kew Gardens as we skirted an edge of it.
Steve Schwartzman
September 27, 2016 at 9:51 AM
It was a wonderful year for this little plant. I saw its little bouquets in great abundance all along the dune trail this summer.
melissabluefineart
September 27, 2016 at 9:15 AM
I’m glad to hear you had a good summer with this little friend along the dune trail. At least I got to see a few specimens.
Steve Schwartzman
September 27, 2016 at 9:53 AM