Stellaria borealis subsp. sitchana
Sitka starwort, Sitka Starwort
Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Native
Sitka starwort is a California native perennial found in coastal and montane regions including northern California Coast, northern Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, and Central Coast in sedge stands, meadows, streambanks, and moist woodlands at elevations up to 2,100 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces white flowers with delicate petals up to half the length of its narrow sepals. Growing with sprawling to erect stems 15 to 50 centimeters tall, it has a distinctive white rhizome and stems with finely textured internodes. Its leaves are relatively evenly spaced, with blades 15 to 45 millimeters long, lance-shaped with flat, sometimes ciliate margins near the base. The small dark red-brown seeds have low, elongated tubercles, contributing to the plant's subtle botanical complexity.
Habitat: Sedge stands, meadows, streambanks, swamps, moist woodland
Bloom period: May-Sep
Elevation: < 2100 m
Bioregions: NCo, NCoRO, CaRH, c&s SNF, SNH, CCo
California counties: Fresno, Kern, Butte, Sonoma, Tulare, Mendocino, Tehama, Yuba, Calaveras, Mariposa, Placer, Plumas, Siskiyou, Humboldt, Marin, Shasta, Lassen, El Dorado, Madera, Tuolumne
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.