Colorado Starwort Stellaria irrigua Pink family (Caryophyllaceae)
This tiny plant is, according to Colorado flora authority William Weber, "locally common on at high altitudes," but overall it is listed as rare in the very few Colorado and New Mexico counties in which it is found. The only other occurrences of this plant are in the Altai Mountains of Siberia, where it was first discovered and where it is also rare. The "Flora of North America" indicates, "Stellaria irrigua has a remarkable and perhaps uniquely distribution." Stellaria irrigua is unusual also in its floral structure. The white petals are cut deeply and they and the are laid back against the colorful . Leaves and are green and maroon. The plant is so minute that it is difficult -- but rewarding -- to find on slopes. Bunge named this plant in 1835 from Siberian specimens.
plants with ; forming mats or low cushions. Stems to spreading, branched, 4-sided, less than 1" to at most 4" tall, , inter- usually shorter than the leaves. Leaves , with prominent , or to , fleshy, , . with flowers solitary in upper leaf axils, often concealed among leaves. erect but becoming curved upwards. Flowers about 1/4", 5, purple tinged. Petals 5, about 1/12", shorter than , deeply cut in two. 5, inserted in prominent . 3. a green becoming straw colored .
