Eremogone aculeata
prickly sandwort
Blooms: June-August
Habit: herb
Duration: perennial
Origin: Native
Distribution: Known from Kittitas County in Washington; Beaverhead County, Montana, to northeast Oregon, south to Nevada, Utah, and northeast California.
Habitat: Gravelly sagebrush-covered hills at 6000 feet elevation to rocky alpine slopes.
Species Description:
General: Tufted perennial from a freely-branched, woody base, forming mats 5-15 cm. broad; flowering stems numerous, 10-20 cm. tall, glandular-pubescent with dark-tipped hairs.
Leaves: Leaves mostly basal, forming thick, prickly cushions, rigid and sharp-pointed, spreading, narrowly linear, 1-2 cm. long and less than 0.5 mm. wide; cauline leaves few, 1-2 pairs, greatly reduced.
Flowers: Flowers several to numerous, in open, diffuse cymes; sepals 5, broadly ovate, 3-4 mm. long, obtuse, wing-margined and purplish-tinged; petals 5, white, nearly twice as long as the sepals; stamens 10; styles 3.
Fruits: Capsule ovoid, about the length of the calyx, dehiscent by 6 teeth.
Accepted Name:
Eremogone aculeata (S. Watson) Ikonnikov
Synonyms:
Arenaria aculeata S. Wats.
Arenaria fendleri A. Gray
Arenaria fendleri A. Gray var. aculeata (S. Watson) S. L. Welsh
Arenaria pumicola Coville & Leiberg
Arenaria pumicola Coville & Leiberg var. californica Maguire
Treated in Flora of the PNW as:
Additional Resources:
PNW Herbaria Specimens: View list of all
Eremogone aculeata specimens in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database.
WTU Herbarium Specimens: View list of
Eremogone aculeata specimens in the WTU Herbarium database.
Washington Flora Checklist:
Eremogone aculeata treatment.
E-Flora BC:
Eremogone aculeata atlas page.
CalPhotos:
Eremogone aculeata images.
USDA Plants Database:
Eremogone aculeata.
Additional photographs of Eremogone aculeata:
(click on a thumbnail to view larger photo)

Bud Kovalchik

Bud Kovalchik

G. D. Carr, 2009

G. D. Carr, 2009

G. D. Carr, 2009

G. D. Carr, 2009

G. D. Carr, 2009

G. D. Carr, 2010

G. D. Carr, 2010

G. D. Carr, 2010

G. D. Carr, 2010

G. D. Carr, 2010

G. D. Carr, 2010

G. D. Carr, 2010

G. D. Carr, 2010

G. D. Carr, 2010

Robert L. Carr, 2010

G. D. Carr, 2011

G. D. Carr, 2011