Rhizomes with spherical or elongate tuberous thickenings 0.5-2.5 cm.  Stems 4-angled, 12-45(-60) cm, glabrous or stipitate-glandular throughout or at least in inflorescence, often densely so. Leaf blades linear to linear-lanceolate or broadly lanceolate, (1.5-)2-10(-15) × 0.2-1.5(-2) cm, margins flat to briefly revolute, ± smooth or granular to serrulate, glabrous or stipitate-glandular. Inflorescences open cymes, flowers often proliferating with age. Pedicels recurved to reflexed from base in fruit, uniformly stipitate-glandular. Flowers: sepals lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 3-5.5(-7) × 0.8-2 mm, stipitate-glandular, often densely so; petals 7-9.5 × 3-4 mm, apex notch 1-2 mm deep, lobes broadly rounded; anthers 10, purple; styles 3.5-4.5 mm; stigmas terminal, 0.1-0.2 mm. Capsules 4.5-5 mm. Seeds 1-3, reddish brown, broadly elliptic, ± plump, 2-3.4 mm; tubercles conic to elongate, rounded. 2n = 96.

Flowering summer. Meadows, sagebrush-grasslands, dry understory of aspen and coniferous forests; 600-3400 m.; Ariz., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., Nev., N.Mex., Oreg., Tex., Utah, Wash., Wyo.

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Rhizomatous herb, lightly pubescent, with round or elongate thickenings on the rhizomes, stems with 4 angles, glabrous or gland dotted, especially near the inflorescence.

Leaves: Sessile, opposite, linear to broadly lanceolate, 2-10 cm long, margins flat to slightly revolute, entire to serrulate, gland-dotted and lightly pubescent.

Flowers: White borne in open cymes, having 5 petals cleft with 2 divisions, giving the appearance of more petals, linear veins evident on the petals. Stamens white with purple to pink anthers at the tips. Sepals lanceolate to narrowly ovate, gland dotted and lightly pubescent. Pedicels thin and delicate.

Fruits: Small capsules, 4-5 mm, with 1-3 reddish-brown elliptic seeds.

Ecology: Found in dry areas in meadows, sagebrush-grasslands, and coniferous forests, from 2,000-11,500 ft (610-3505 m); flowers in summer.

Notes: The flowers on this species look similar to Claytonia, however, Claytonia petals do not have a cleft and the leaves are noticeably different.

Etymology: Psuedostellaria refers to false Stellaria, due to an incorrect taxonomic placement of species, and jamesiana is named after Edwin P. James (1797-1861), an American naturalist and botanical explorer in the Rocky Mountains.

Synonyms: Stellaria jamesiana, Arenaria jamesiana, Alsine glutinosa

Editor: LCrumbacher, 2011