as described under Oxyria digyna
Plants: (3-)5-50 cm.
Stems 1-4(-8), often reddish,
simple or branched
distally.
Leaves: rarely 1-2 on
stems, somewhat fleshy; ocrea
hyaline or brownish
hyaline, 2.5-10 mm,
glabrous;
petiole 1-15 cm;
blade palmately veined with (5-)7(-9)
basal veins, 0.5-6.5 × 0.5-6 cm, base
cordate,
apex rounded.
Inflorescences: (1-)2-20 cm;
peduncle 1-17 cm.
Pedicels:
spreading or
reflexed,
jointed proximal to middle, (1-)3-5 mm.
Flowers: 2-6 per ocreate
fascicle;
perianth 1-2.5 mm; outer 2
tepals spreading in
fruit, navicular, 1.2-1.7 × 0.5-1 mm, inner 2
tepals appressed in
fruit, broadly
elliptic to
orbiculate or
obovate, 1.4-2.5 × 0.7-1.6 mm;
stamens 1.5-2 mm;
anthers 0.3-0.8(-1.1) mm;
stigmas conspicuously
exserted at
anthesis, red.
Achenes: 3-4.5 × 2.5-5 mm including 2
wings,
apex notched;
wings reddish or pinkish, veiny.
2n = 14.Flowering Jun-Sep, fruiting Jul-Oct. Early melting snowbeds and zones of snow accumulation, gravel bars, mudflats, tundra,
scree slopes,
crevices in rock
outcrops,
talus slopes; 0-4200 m; Greenland; Alta., B.C., Nfld. and Labr., N.W.T., N.S., Nunavut, Que., Yukon; Alaska, Ariz., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., Nev., N.H., N.Mex., Oreg., S.Dak., Utah, Wash., Wyo.; Europe; Asia.
Morphological and physiological differences between arctic and
alpine populations of Oxyria in North America have been documented (H. A. Mooney and W. D. Billings 1961). Arctic plants (Alaska, northern Canada, and Greenland) taken from the field and grown in controlled environments tend to bear
inflorescences with more branches, leaves with
blades that are wider, and flowers with a more stable number of
stamens as compared to
alpine plants from populations in the south (California, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming). Northern plants also have a greater tendency to reproduce
asexually, often producing
rhizomes and exhibiting relatively lower
seed production.
Inuits consume the raw or cooked leaves and
stems as a green or mixed with seal blubber or seal oil.
Native American
tribes in the Rocky Mountains also are reported to use the leaves as a salad (D. E. Moerman 1998). Caribou, muskoxen, and geese are reported to eat the leaves and
stems, and arctic hares and lemmings consume the fleshy
rhizomes (A. E. Porsild 1957).