This section is from the book "Wild Flowers Of The North American Mountains", by Julia W. Henshaw. Also available from Amazon: Wild Flowers of the North American Mountains.
Stems: erect, slender, simple or branched. Leaves: thin, oblong, obtuse, punctate, hairy on the margin and midrib. Flowers: petals oblong, obtuse, twice longer than the sepals. Fruit: a capsule.
The Sandworts are rather insignificant plants with more or less rigid leaves and small white flowers growing in compound clusters or flat heads. The Blunt-leaved Sandwort is rather hairy and has oblong dotted leaves which terminate in a rounded apex, and a spherical capsule containing large smooth seeds.
Arenaria capillaris var. nardifolia, or Narrow-leaved Sandwort, has sharp-pointed leaves grouped in dense clusters at the base of the plant, the few stem leaves being much reduced.
Arenaria verna var. propinqua, or Vernal Sandwort, has densely-tufted flowering stems bearing pairs of tiny leaves all the way up them.
Arenaria sajanensis, or One-flowered Sandwort, has slender one-flowered stems and narrow leaves.
 
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