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Plant Portrait Minuartia groenlandica By Ruth E. Smith Greenland sandwort, a beautiful
little alpine plant, grows miraculously out of the crevices of granite rocks
on windswept barrens where it is associated with reindeer moss and other
lichens. It is found on bare mountain summits at medium elevations and as
its name would suggest, in the alpine zone of Greenland. In Nova Scotia and
Newfoundland it is uncommon to rare and its habitat requires protection. It occurs in Halifax Regional Municipality at the top of Blue
Mountain (near Hammonds Plains) and in some areas of granite outcrop such as
the Herring Cove Backlands. Also known as mountain sandwort, its taxonomy
has been changed recently from Arenaria groenlandica to Minuartia
groenlandica. It is one of the few alpine plants
that bloom all summer from June until late October in Nova Scotia, it
was blooming at one location in HRM in mid October in 2006. Its
clusters of small delicate white flowers with yellow centres bloom
above narrow green leaves resembling chickweed often forming tufts or mats
at the base. Typically, it is no more than 8 centimetres in height. Because
of its relatively small delicate form it can be unintentionally crushed
under a hiker’s boot, or even worse, under a motorized recreational
vehicle. Protecting the habitat of our own alpine plants is an obvious
priority. I collected a small quantity of seed
at two different sites in HRM this fall after many of the plants had already
matured and dispersed most of their seed thus reassuring myself that next
year’s plants would not be compromised. Jeremy Lundhome, a botanist at
Saint Mary’s University advises that the seed germinates readily, requires
no stratification and that the plant is remarkable for its resistance to
drought. The small amount of seed will be available from the Seed Exchange. It is hoped that we might start generating our own seed supply without need to harvest seed from plants growing in the wild. So, if you have granite outcrop on your property this may be a natural choice. It also should lend itself to tufa containers. |