Cardionema ramosissimum
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Cardionemaramosissimum2.jpg
|genus = Cardionema
|species = ramosissimum
|authority = (Weinm.) A. Nels. & J.F. Macbr.
|synonyms_ref = {{Cite POWO|id=45444-2|title=Cardionema ramosissima}}
|synonyms =
Homotypic synonyms
{{Species list
|Acanthonychia ramosissima | (Weinm.) Rohrb. 1872
|Loeflingia ramosissima | Weinm. 1820 (basionym)
|Paronychia ramosissima | (Weinm.) DC. 1828
|Pentacaena ramosissima | (Weinm.) Hook. & Arn. 1833
}}
{{Collapsible list|title=Heterotypic synonyms
| {{Species list
|Polycnemum bonariense | Willd. 1820
|Polycnemum scleranthoides | Willd. ex Moq. 1849
|Acanthonychia polycnemoides | (Bartl.) Rohrb. 1872
|Acanthonychia ramosissima var. andina | (Phil.) Reiche 1895
|Cardionema multicaule | DC. 1828
|Paronychia confertissima | D.Parodi 1878
|Paronychia pauciflora | Larrañaga 1923
|Paronychia polycnemoides | Schltdl. 1839
|Pentacaena polycnemoides | Bartl. 1831
|Pentacaena tenuior | Steud. 1841 nom. inval.
}}
}}
}}
Cardionema ramosissimum is a perennial plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, commonly known as sandcarpet, sandmat or tread lightly. It is a small, clumping, mat-forming plant found in a number of diverse habitats throughout its range, from sandy beaches and dunes to the high elevations of the Andes mountains. Cardionema ramosissimum has a disjunct distribution throughout the Americas, and is found on the Pacific coast of North America from Puget Sound to Baja California, in central Mexico, and widely across South America, from the Andes in Colombia to most of Argentina.
Description
Cardionema ramosissimum is a prostrate perennial herb with stems {{Cvt|5|-|30|cm|in}} long forming dense mats, with a pubescent indumentum throughout. The stems are often obscured by numerous stipules measuring {{Cvt|4|-|8|mm|in}} long that occupy the spaces between the leaves. The leaves are needle-like and finely spine-tipped, {{Cvt|5|-|13|mm|in}} long and glabrous.
The inconspicuous inflorescence consists of an axillary cyme of 1 to 5 flowers. The flowers are densely hairy throughout and have a small cup-shaped hypanthium. The 5 sepals are characterized by awns {{Cvt|1.5|-|4|mm|in}} long. The fruit is a small, narrowly ovate utricle measuring {{Cvt|1.4|-|1.6|mm|in}} long. The sepals become a tough, burlike structure enclosing the utricle to aid it in dispersion.
;Uses
This thick plant forms a blanket on the sand and can be used for erosion control on beaches.
Distribution and habitat
Cardionema ramosissimum is found on both continents of the Americas, but in a disjunct distribution, nearing an amphitropical distribution but not technically qualifying as such since it reaches the tropics in the Andes.
In its North American area, C. ramosissimum is found along the coast from Puget Sound in Washington south through Oregon and California into Baja California as far south as San Quintín. It is generally found immediately by the coast, and sometimes occasionally inland on hills and dunes. It is also thought to be introduced on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
Cardionema ramosissimum is also found throughout central Mexico. It is present in the states of Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Oaxaca, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, and Mexico City.{{Cite journal |last=Villaseñor |first=José Luis |date=2016-08-05 |title=Checklist of the native vascular plants of México |url=https://revista.ib.unam.mx/index.php/bio/article/view/1638 |journal=Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad |language=en |volume=87 |issue=3 |pages=695 |doi=10.1016/j.rmb.2016.06.017 |issn=2007-8706|doi-access=free }}
In Colombia, this species is found at elevations of {{Cvt|2600|-|3125|m|ft}} in the Andes of Boyacá and Cundinamarca departments.{{Cite book |last=Bernal |first=Rodrigo |title=Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia |last2=Gradstein |first2=Stephan Robbert |last3=Celis |first3=Marcela |date=2016 |publisher=Universidad Nacional de Colombia |isbn=978-958-775-727-9 |location=Bogotá}} In the Andes of Ecuador, it is found at elevations of {{Cvt|2000|-|4500|m|ft}} in the provinces of Cañar, Chimborazo, Imbabura and Pichincha.{{Cite book |title=Catalogue of the vascular plants of Ecuador: = Catalogo de las plantas vaculares del Ecuador |date=1999 |publisher=Missouri Botan. Garden |isbn=978-0-915279-60-9 |editor-last=Jørgensen |editor-first=Peter M. |series=Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden |location=St. Louis, Mo}}
In the Southern Cone of South America, this species is found widely throughout Chile and Argentina, and is also found less commonly in southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay.{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/294820637 |title=Catálogo de las plantas vasculares del Cono Sur. volumen 2 : Dicotyledoneae: Acanthaceae - Fabaceae (Abarema - Schizolobium) |date=2008 |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden Press |isbn=978-1-930723-70-2 |editor-last=Zuloaga |editor-first=Fernando O. |series=Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden |volume=2 |location=St. Louis, Mo |pages=1877 |oclc=294820637 |editor-last2=Morrone |editor-first2=Osvaldo |editor-last3=Belgrano |editor-first3=Manuel J. |editor-last4=Missouri Botanical Garden |editor-last5=Instituto de Botánica Darwinion (San Isidro, Argentina)}}
References
{{Reflist|refs=
- {{cite web |last1=Hartman |first1=Ronald L. |last2=Rabeler |first2=Richard K. |title=Cardionema ramosissimum |url=https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=17198 |website=Jepson eFlora |publisher=Jepson Flora Project |access-date=11 July 2024 |date=2012}}
- {{Cite eFloras|1|242428739|Cardionema ramosissimum|first=Ronald L.|last=Hartman}}
- {{Cite journal |last=Simpson |first=Michael G. |last2=Johnson |first2=Leigh A. |last3=Villaverde |first3=Tamara |last4=Guilliams |first4=C. Matt |date=2017 |title=American amphitropical disjuncts: Perspectives from vascular plant analyses and prospects for future research |url=https://plants.sdsu.edu/AAD/temperate.htm |journal=American Journal of Botany |language=en |volume=104 |issue=11 |pages=Appendix 3 |doi=10.3732/ajb.1700308 |issn=0002-9122|hdl=10261/168338 |hdl-access=free }}
- {{cite web |title=Cardionema ramosissimum |url=https://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Cardionema+ramosissimum |website=E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia |publisher=Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver}}
- {{Cite journal |last1=Rebman |first1=Jon P. |last2=Gibson |first2=Judy |last3=Rich |first3=Karen |date=15 November 2016 |title=Annotated Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Baja California, Mexico |url=http://sdplantatlas.org/pdffiles/BajaChecklist2016.pdf |journal=Proceedings of the San Diego Society of Natural History |publisher=San Diego Natural History Museum |volume=45 |pages=6, 211 |via=San Diego Plant Atlas}}
}}
External links
{{Commons category-inline|Cardionema ramosissimum|Cardionema ramosissimum}}
- [https://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CARA3 USDA Plants Profile]
- [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Cardionema+ramosissimum Cardionema ramosissimum — U.C.Photo gallery]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q5038713}}
Category:Flora of Rio Grande do Sul