Ivesia santolinoides | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Rosales |
Family: | Rosaceae |
Genus: | Ivesia |
Species: | I. santolinoides
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Binomial name | |
Ivesia santolinoides | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Ivesia santolinoides is a species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common names silver mousetail, [1] stellariopsis, [1] Sierra mousetail[ citation needed] and mousetail ivesia. [2] It is endemic to California where it grows in several mountain ranges, including the Sierra Nevada and Transverse Ranges.
This is a perennial herb which can be somewhat different in appearance from many other mousetails. Each leaf is made up of many leaflets but they are tiny and overlap tightly to form a woolly, taillike, cylindrical leaf up to 10 centimeters long. The erect, naked stem reaches up to 40 centimeters in height and bears an inflorescence of flowers. Each flower is up to 8 millimeters wide and has large, round white petals above the much smaller, pointed sepals. There are 15 stamens and a single pistil.