Bear Valley sandwort is a many-stemmed, erect to ascending, caespitose perennial growing 6"-8" tall that is restricted to the eastern San Bernardino Mts.  The stem is glandular-puberulent, especially above, and dull to somewhat shiny.  The leaves are entire-margined, opposite, needle-like and sharp-pointed, and have a single vein.  The flowers are in open terminal cymes, usually with only a few flowers, and with short pedicels.  The five sepals are ovate, obtuse to rounded, and scarious-margined, while the five petals are white, oblong and round-tipped.  There are ten exserted stamens and three styles.  The fruit is a capsule with brown to dark purple, faintly reticulate, seeds that are ± spheric to widely elliptic.  This species of Arenaria occupies dry slopes and rocky soils from 6000' to 7000' in yellow pine forest and pinyon-juniper woodland, blooming from June to July.  The Jepson Manual describes it as rare.

Click here for Latin name derivations: 1) Arenaria 2) ursina.
Pronunciation: ar-en-AR-ee-a ur-SINE-a.
Click here for Botanical Term Meanings.