Ditch Stonecrop

Appearance

''Penthorum sedoides'' is 10 to 80 centimeters tall. The erect lower portion of the stem is smooth, but the curved branching inflorescence is covered in glandular hairs. The lanceolate finely serrated leaves are 2 to 18 centimeters long, and 0.5 to 5.5 centimeters wide. The flowers are about half a centimeter wide, with 10 stamens and no petals. The fruit is a star shaped capsule consisting of 5 carpels united at the base, which turns red in autumn.

Naming

Penthorum sedoides L.

Distribution

''Penthorum sedoides'' is widely distributed in the United States and Canada. It has been recorded in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia, as well as the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec. ''Penthorum sedoides'' is only native to the eastern half of the continent, in the Pacific Northwest it is an introduced species found in commercial cranberry bogs.

Status

It is listed as a species of special concern (S-rank: S2) by the state of Rhode Island.

Habitat

Habitats include openings in floodplain and bottom forests, swamps, marshes, muddy shores along rivers or ponds, prairie swales, and ditches along roadsides and railroads.