AN ILLUSTRATED KEY TO THE CARYOPHYLLACEAE OF ALBERTA Compiled and writen by Linda Kershaw & Lorna Allen April 2019 © Linda J. Kershaw & Lorna Allen This key was compiled using informaton primarily from Moss (1983), Douglas et al. (1998), and the Flora North America Associaton (2008). Taxonomy follows VASCAN (Brouillet, 2015). The main references are listed at the end of the key. Please let us know if there are ways in which the key can be improved. The 2015 S-ranks of rare species (S1; S1S2; S2; S2S3; SU, according to ACIMS, 2015) are noted in superscript (S1;S2;SU) afer the species names. For more details go to the ACIMS web site. Similarly, exotc species are followed by a superscript X, XX if noxious and XXX if prohibited noxious (X; XX; XXX) according to the Alberta Weed Control Act (2016). CARYOPHYLLACEAE Pink Family Key to Genera 01a Stipules present, egg- to spatula-shaped, triangular, or bristle-like, mostly thin and translucent .........................02 01b Stipules absent ......................04 02a Fruits 1-seeded, not splitting open (utricles); petals absent; sepals attached above the ovary, on the rim of the fower base (hypanthium), 2-3 mm long, obscurely hooded and tipped with a short bristle; forming tufts or mats on dry hills and ridges, s AB ...Paronychia sessilifora 02b Fruits 3- to 150+-seeded capsules; petals present (rarely absent); sepals usually arising 1a from the ovary base (sometimes from the rim of fower base/hypanthium). .03 03a Leaves paired but appearing whorled, in clusters of 8-15, with 2 clusters per joint/node; capsules tipped with 5 styles, splitting into 5 3a parts ............... Spergula arvensis X 03b Leaves paired, often with leaf clusters in their axils; capsules tipped with 3 styles and splitting into 3 parts .................Spergularia 04a Sepals fused for (1/4)1/2+ their length, forming a cup or tube (→); petals white to pink, red, or 2a purple (rarely absent); sepals/petals/stamens attached below the ovary ..............05 → 04b Sepals separate (rarely fused at the base); 4a petals usually white (sometimes yellowish, pink, brown or absent); sepals/petals/stamens attached below the ovary or on the rim of the fower base .........................11 05a Flowers with 2-6 sheathing bracts (→) at the base; exotic weeds ............. Dianthus 05b Flowers without sheathing bracts ........06 3b → 06a Styles 3 or 5 (rarely 4); capsules splitting into 5a 3 or 5 segments or opening via 6 or 10 teeth; fowers with both male and female parts or some species with male or female fowers on separate plants ......................07 06b Styles 2(3); capsules splitting into 4 parts 5b (usually); fowers with both male and female parts ..............................09 7a 07a Sepals with long, leaf-like lobes (→), 25-62 mm long; styles 3, opposite the petals; petals dark purple ....... Agrostemma githago X 07b Sepals without leafy lobes, <20(25) mm long; styles alternating with petals; petals variously 6a colored ............................08 3 08a Flowers on 1-5 mm long stalks, in compact, head-like clusters; sepals 13-17 mm long, reddish to purplish, 10-veined; petals pink, rose or lavender, with a slender, stalk-like base 6-8 mm long tipped with a broad, spreading lobe 4-7 mm long; plants mostly hairless and glandless, with a pale waxy coating (sometimes with a few short hairs and/or glands on upper parts), annual, exotic ....Atocion armeria X ......................[Silene armeria] 8b 08b Flowers and plants not as above .... Silene 8a 09a Flowers usually <1 cm long; sepals 1-5 mm long, forming a cone or cup with thin, translucent sections/joints between the sepals .......................... Gypsophila 09b Flowers usually >2 cm long; sepals 7-25 mm, forming a cylindric/tube, without conspicuous joints between the sepals ..............10 10a Plants perennial; fower clusters crowded or open; fower stalks 1-6 mm long; calyx tubes cylindrical; petals with 2 slender appendages at the base of the blade/at the top of the stalk- 9a like base ..........Saponaria offcinalis X 10a 10b Plants annual; fower clusters open; fower stalks (5)10-30(55) mm; calyx tubes with 5 prominent, often winged ridges; petal without appendages ........Vaccaria hispanica X 11a Fruits 1-seeded, not splitting open (utricles); fowers inconspicuous, green, in leafy clusters, ± stalkless, without petals; plants annual, mat- forming, exotic weed . Scleranthus annuus X 10b 11a 11b Fruits several- to many-seeded capsules, splitting open at maturity; fowers mostly conspicuous, stalked, usually with petals . .12 12a Petals tipped with 2 lobes or deeply cut into 2 segments (sometimes nearly to the base) .13 12b Petals rounded, slightly notched or jagged . 14 13a Capsules cylindrical, often curved, opening by 12a 10 teeth ..............Cerastium (in part) 13b Capsules ovoid to globose, splitting into segments .....................Stellaria 14a Capsule segments = # of styles .........15 14a 14b Capsule segments or teeth = 2 times # of styles ..............................17 15a Styles/capsule segments 4-5; sepals 4-5 .... ..............................Sagina 15b Styles/capsule segments 3(4); sepals 5 ...16 13a; 17a 13b 16a 16a Sepals oblong, with rounded/blunt tips ...... ............Cherleria [Minuartia, in part] 16b Sepals lance- to egg-shaped, tapered to pointed tips ...................Sabulina 17a Capsules cylindrical, opening by 10 teeth ... ....................Cerastium (in part) 17b Capsules egg-shaped to urn-shaped or spherical, opening by 6 segments/teeth ...18 15a 16b 4 18a Leaf blades thread-like to awl-shaped or 18a narrowly linear, usually crowded at/near the base of the fowering stem and tipped with a sharp point/spine (rarely blunt) . .Eremogone 18b Leaf blades egg- to lance-shaped (sometimes narrowly so), not crowded at/near the base of 19b the stem, tips blunt to pointed ...........19 19a Leaves elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, 6-30(35) x 5-10 mm, blunt or rounded at the tip, separate from the opposite leaf; seeds with a feshy white appendage (strophiole) ........ ................. Moehringia laterifora 19b Leaves elliptic to broadly egg-shaped (round), 19a 2-6(7) x 1-4 mm, pointed at the tip, joined to the opposite leaf at the base (at least slightly); seeds without a feshy appendage . Arenaria - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ARENARIA Sandwort 01a Plants perennial, from spreading rootstocks, native, alpine; stems 2-4 cm long; fowers solitary ..... Arenaria longipedunculata S2 01b Plants annual, exotic, weedy, from a slender taproot; stems (3)5-40 cm long; fowers 3-50+ ................ Arenaria serpyllifolia X CERASTIUM Chickweed 1a 1b 01a Plants annual, all shoots producing fowering stems; petals ≈ sepals or slightly longer; - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - capsules 2-3 times as long as sepals .....02 01b Plants biennial or perennial, often with non- fowering offshoots; petals usually much longer than sepals (sometimes ≤ to sepals); capsules 1-2 times as long as sepals ............03 02a Capsules longer than their stalks, the stalks often bent sharply back/down at the base ... .............. Cerastium brachypodum 02b Capsules shorter than their stalks, the stalks 2b sharply bent back/down at the tip .......... 2a .................... Cerastium nutans 03a Leaves linear to narrowly Iance-shaped, with clusters of small leaves in upper leaf axils; stems erect or ascending; petals 2 times as 4a long as sepals .........Cerastium arvense 3a 03b Leaves oblong to elliptic or spatula-shaped, without small leaves in upper leaf axils; stems often spreading or sprawling; petals 1-1.5 (rarely 2) times as long as sepals ........04 04a Bracts at the base of fower clusters broad and leaf-like; petals usually (1)1.5(2) times as long as sepals; alpine, native ................. ...............Cerastium beeringianum 04b Bracts at the base of fower clusters small and slender, not leaf-like; petals 1(1.5) times as 4b long as sepals; widespread weed, exotic .... Cerastium fontanum X [Cerastium vulgatum] 5 CHERLERIA Stitchwort [Minuartia, in part] 01a Leaves 3-sided, 3-veined; sepals 3-6.5 mm long; petals egg- or spatula-shaped, 1.2-2X as long as sepals; fowers in clusters of 2-3 .... Cherleria obtusiloba [Minuartia obtusiloba] 1a 1b 01b Leaves fat, obscurely 1-veined; sepals 3.5-4.5 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - mm long; petals narrowly oblong, 1.4-1.7X as long as sepals; fowers in clusters of 3-5 .... ......Cherleria bifora [Minuartia bifora] DIANTHUS Pink 01a Flowers in clusters of 3-15+ (rarely solitary); fower stalks 0.1-2(3) mm; fower bracts ≥ calyx in length .......................02 01b Flowers usually solitary (sometimes 2-4); 2a 2b fower stalks 4-25(30) mm; fower bracts absent .............................03 02a Flower clusters open, fat-topped (cymes), with (1)3-6 fowers; sepals hairy; leaves narrowly oblong to linear ........Dianthus armeria X 02b Flower clusters forming dense heads, 4- to 3a 4a 20+-fowered; sepals hairless (sometimes with hairs along the edges); leaves lance-elliptic . X .................. Dianthus barbatus 4b 03a Stems and sepals hairy Dianthus deltoides X 03b Stems and sepals hairless .............04 04a Petal tips irregularly cut into narrow segments ≈ 1/3-1/2 the blade length ................ ................. Dianthus plumarius X - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 04b Petal tips toothed, cut ≤1/4 of the blade length ...................Dianthus seguieri X EREMOGONE Sandwort [Arenaria, in part] 01a Flowering stems glandular-hairy above; fowers 1-12(18), in open,