WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

Clusters of 3–6+ tiny, white flowers grow on 12-inch tall floral stems from colonies of matted, clump-forming basal branches. Note the petals are deeply cut into 2 lobes and have a greenish-yellow throat, and the glandular-hairy stems have clusters of small leaves in the leaf axils.

FLOWER: May–September. Clusters have only a few flowers. Flowers have 5 white, oval petals, each 5/16–1/2-inch long (8–12 mm) with a deep notch; sepals glandular-hairy, pointed, only half as long as petals; 10 stamens, 5 styles.

LEAVES: Opposite. Blades linear to lance-shaped, 3/8–1 1/4-inch long (1–3 cm), with bundles of small secondary leaves in the axils; surfaces slightly to softly hairy, tips pointed.

HABITAT: Sandy, gravel-loam soils, stream sides, meadows, open woods, roadsides; pinyon-juniper, ponderosa, spruce-fir, aspen, alpine slopes.

ELEVATION: 6,000–12,600 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CO, NM, UT; widespread Rocky Mt. states and Great Lakes to New England.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Mouse-ear Chickweed, C. beeringianum, in alpine areas, doesn’t have clusters of small leaves in the axils. The annual Nodding Mouse-ears, C. nutans, doesn’t have matted basal stems and the petals are 1.5 times longer than the sepals. Bushy Mouse-ears, C. fastigiatum, has multiple, tangled stems. Starworts, Stellaria, also have lobed petals but flowers have only 3 styles.

NM COUNTIES: Western 2/3 NM in mid- to high-elevation, moist habitats: Catron, Cibola, Colfax, Dona Ana, Grant, Hidalgo, Lincoln, Los Alamos, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Torrance.