Online Virtual Flora of Wisconsin - Moehringia lateriflora

Moehringia lateriflora (L.) Fenzl

Family: Caryophyllaceae

blunt-leaf sandwort, grove sandwort, wood sandwort

[Arenaria lateriflora L., more...]

Aaron Carlson

Christopher Noll

University of Wisconsin - Madison (WIS-VP)

Open Interactive Map

Etymology: Moehringia: for Paul Heinrich Gerhard, 18th century German botanist
Plants: erect, perennial, 4"-12" tall forb; leafy, hairy stems; from colony-forming rhizomes
Leaves: Opposite pairs, relatively broad with a blunt tip, 1/3"-1" long, no stipules, hairy
Flowers: white, 5-parted, 1/3"-1/2" wide, petals about twice as long as the sepals, sepals oblong to elliptic with mostly rounded or blunt tips; inflorescence with 1-5 stalked flowers in a branched cluster (cyme); blooms May-Aug.
Fruits: capsule with 6 silts opening nearly to the base when mature; smooth, glossy seeds
Habitat: dry to moist; woods, forests, riverbanks

This is a delicate little plant that occurs most commonly in drier forests of oak and hickory but also forests of oak and pine, sugar maple and basswood, lowland forests, wet savannas, mesic and dry prairies, sandstone ridges under red cedar, wooded sand bars; rarely in boreal forests or along railroads. Abundant in the southern part of the state and extending north of the Tension Zone in a few counties, but almost entirely absent from the southern and western portions of the Driftless Area. It is also rare east of the Niagara Escarpment.

Floristic Rating: Coefficient of Conservatism = 6, Wetland Indicator = FACU* Atlas of the Wisconsin Prairie and Savanna Flora: by T.S. Cochrane & H.H. Iltis: habitat, distribution infomation / flowering and fruiting times USDA Plants Database: Federal Distribution and detailed information including photos