Species Description
Cerastium fontanum is a stiff-hairy, glandular biennial or perennial, the stems sprawling but the flowering stems erect, 2-4 dm. tall. Leaves of the prostrate stems opposite, crowded, oblanceolate, 10-25 mm. long and 2-5 mm. broad; leaves of the flowering stems opposite, widely spaced, up to 4 cm. long and 15 mm. broad. Flowers several in an open, dichotomously branched inflorescence; sepals 5, 4-7 mm. long, stiff-hairy; petals 5, white, bi-lobed, equaling the sepals; stamens 10; styles 5. The fruit is a capsule, membranous, cylindric, slightly curved, twice as long as the sepals, opening by 10 teeth (Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture 2006).
Principal source:
Compiler: IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group with support from the Overseas Territories Environmental Programme (OTEP) project XOT603, a joint project with the Cayman Islands Government - Department of Environment
Review:
Publication date: 2009-03-24
Recommended citation: Global Invasive Species Database (2024) Species profile: Cerastium fontanum. Downloaded from http://iucngisd.org/gisd/species.php?sc=1422 on 25-11-2024.