Stellaria irrigua Bunge

Plants perennial, forming mats or low cushions, with elongate rhizomes. Stems ascending to spreading, striate, branched, 4-sided, 2-10 cm, glabrous, inter-nodes usually shorter than leaves. Leaves sessile; blade with promi-nent midrib, elliptic or lanceolate to oblanceolate, 0.1-1 cm × 0.5-4 mm, fleshy, base cuneate to spatulate, margins transparent, entire, narrow, apex acute, glabrous, rarely with few cilia near base, with sessile, often purple glands impressed on abaxial surface; proximal leaves marcescent. Inflorescences with flowers solitary in distal leaf axils, often ± concealed among leaves; bracts, when present, paired near base of pedicel, with midrib, ovate-lanceolate, ca. 1 mm, scarious. Pedicels erect, becoming curved and deflexed distally, 3-15 mm, glabrous. Flowers ca. 6 mm diam.; sepals 5, purple tinged, outer prominently 3-veined, carinate, inner with midrib only, lanceolate, 3-4 mm, margins narrow, membranous, apex acute, glabrous; petals 5, ca. 2 mm, shorter than sepals, blade apex deeply 2-fid, lobes narrowly elliptic; stamens 5, inserted in prominent nectary disc; styles 3, outwardly ascending, curved, 0.75 mm. Capsules green, becoming straw colored, ovoid-obtuse, ca. 3 mm, ± equaling and enclosed in sepals, opening with 6 teeth. Seeds pale brown, reniform, 1-1.2 mm diam., not glossy, sides smooth to shallowly rugose, margins thickened with shallow, parallel, longitudinal ridges.