About Sagina saginoides (L.) Karst.
Alpine pearlwort, Sagina saginoides (L.) Karst., is a small, tufted perennial plant that reaches 3 to 10 centimetres (1.2 to 3.9 in) tall. Its stems are semi-erect, and its stalked leaves grow in opposite fused pairs. The leaves have slender linear blades, entire margins, and blunt tips. The erect flowering stem produces a globular bud, then develops a single regular flower approximately 2 mm (0.1 in) in diameter. The flower has five reflexed sepals, five white, ovate, blunt petals that are the same length as the sepals, ten stamens, and five styles. Its fruit is a five-chambered capsule that is longer than the calyx. The closely similar snow pearlwort (Sagina nivalis) usually differs by having four petals rather than five. This species has a circumboreal distribution, occurring across the northern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere and in mountainous regions at more southern latitudes. It grows in short turf in thin soils on fell tundra, under snowdrifts, in melt-water wetlands, on rock face ledges, rocky banks, meagre pastures, roadside banks, and bare ground. In winter, its small size and covering of snow protect it from severe winds and low temperatures.
