Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Ericales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Pyxidanthera barbulata var. brevifolia
FAMILY
Diapensiaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Sandhills Pyxie-moss at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
The taxonomic status of this entity has been controversial, with different authors considering it a species, a variety, or an ecotype not worthy of taxonomic status... Recent surveys of the genus in the Sandhills of NC have shown that it is ecologically distributed in a strongly bimodal manner, usually found either in very dry (hill-top) or moist (pocosin ecotones) situations... Varietal status seems warranted based on our current understanding. Read more in Weakley's Flora.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Pyxidanthera brevifolia
FAMILY
Diapensiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Pyxidanthera brevifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 146-02-001b:
Pyxidanthera barbulata var. brevifolia FAMILY Diapensiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Pyxidanthera brevifolia
COMMON NAME:
Sandhills Pyxie-moss, Wells' Pyxie-moss, Little Pyxie
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Will Stuart wil_13342661993
March Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
)
Will Stuart wil_13342661993b
March Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
Flowers sessile, ~ 1/4" wide; stamens conspicuous, arising between petals, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).
)
Will Stuart wil_13342661993c
March Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
The Greek "pixie" means "small box" and "anthera" means "anther", per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).
)
Will Stuart wil4458293023_7044183182
March Moore County NC
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve
Pyxie-moss on left; Trailing Arbutus on the right.
)
Alan S. Weakley asw_6199802743399921
May Cumberland County NC
Carvers Creek State Park
)
Alan S. Weakley asw_10231836652275299
June
If not etiolated under leaf litter, leaves ovate, succulent, avg 1-5mm long & < 1.2mm wide, per Weakley's Flora (2023).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Pyxidanthera barbulata var. brevifolia
FAMILY
Diapensiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Pyxidanthera brevifolia
FAMILY
Diapensiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Pyxidanthera brevifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 146-02-001b:
Pyxidanthera barbulata var. brevifolia
FAMILY
Diapensiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Pyxidanthera brevifolia
2558
Subshrub
Perennial
Habitat: On xeric sandhills, generally over deep sand or sand-clay mixtures near the summits or on the upper slopes of sandhills, restricted to the Fall-line Sandhills region, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas
Rare (endemic to 6 counties of the Carolina Sandhills)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Winter/Spring
White
Radially symmetrical
5 sepals united only at base
5-lobed rotate corolla
5 stamens (no staminodes)
FRUIT:
Spring
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p233
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p290
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p190
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p260
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p104
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