Paronychia fastigiata (Raf.) Fernald

Annual with forked, erect or diffusely spreading, puberulent stems 5–25 cm; lvs of the primary branches narrowly lance-elliptic to oblanceolate, 5–20 mm, acute to obtuse, frequently white-punctate; foliar bracts extending through the repeatedly forking cymes; cal 2–3 mm, glabrous or scantily puberulent; sep lance-linear, 1–3-nerved, very often corrugated, the tip of the hooded apex abruptly apiculate or short-awned; styles united below; fr glabrous, included or barely exserted. Dry woods or openings; Mass. to Wis. and e. Minn., s. to Fla. and Tex. July–Sept. Var. fastigiata, with the range of the sp., is erect to low and diffuse, usually reddish or brownish at maturity, the lvs 1–2 cm, usually serrulate, the stipular bracts lanceolate, equaling or shorter than the cal, the style much shorter than the ovary. Var. paleacea Fernald, occurring more or less throughout the range of the sp., differs in its usually greenish color and in its lance-attenuate stipular bracts equaling or mostly surpassing the cal. Var. nuttallii (Small) Fernald, apparently local in se. Pa., differs from var. fastigiata in having sep with a stout white awn 0.2 mm. Var. pumila (A. W. Wood) Fernald, occurring from Pa. and O. to Ga. and Ala., mainly on shale-barrens, is low, diffusely and usually horizontally branched, the lvs 7–12 mm and entire, the stipules lance-ovate, ciliolate, the style as long as the ovary. (Anychiastrum montanum)