Sagina saginoides

Arctic pearlwort, Arctic Pearlwort

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Arctic pearlwort is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and Great Basin in moist banks, streamsides, and dry creeks at elevations of 1,000 to 3,800 meters. Flowering from May to September, this delicate plant produces small white flowers on thread-like pedicels that curve gracefully during blooming. Growing with slender, ascending or decumbent stems 2 to 12 centimeters tall, it forms distinctive sterile basal rosettes that spread close to the ground. Its leaves are narrow and linear, measuring 5 to 15 millimeters long, creating a fine, delicate texture across moist ground surfaces. The tiny seeds are brown, with a subtle grooved back, measuring just 0.2 to 0.4 millimeters in size.

Habitat: Moist banks, streamsides, dry creeks

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: (100)1000-3800 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRO, NCoRH, CaRH, SN, TR, PR, GB

California counties: San Bernardino, Mono, Butte, Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Modoc, Nevada, Orange, Plumas, Riverside, Siskiyou, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, Placer, Shasta, Yuba, Sierra, Mendocino, Lassen, Glenn, Lake, El Dorado, Humboldt, Del Norte, Colusa

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.