Spergula saginoides Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 441. 1753; Sagina linnaei C. Presl.

Herbs perennial. Stems caespitose, ca. 7 cm tall, glabrous. Leaves linear or subulate, 5--15 × ca. 1 mm, glabrous. Flower solitary, terminal. Pedicel recurved after anthesis, erect in fruit, (0.6--)1.5--3 cm. Sepals 5, ovate-oblong, 1.5--3 × ca. 1.5 mm, apex obtuse. Petals 5, ovate, shorter than sepals. Stamens (5 or)10. Styles 5. Capsule conical-ovoid, 3--5 mm, ca. 2 × as long as appressed sepals, shiny, 5-valved. Seeds brown, reniform-triangular, ca. 0.3 mm, grooved, ?sharply tuberculate. Fl. May--Jul, fr. Jul--Aug. 2n = 22.

This species is used medicinally.

Rocky mountain slopes, mire meadows, scrub, wet river banks; 1400--4200 m. Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Sikkim, Vietnam; SW Asia, Europe, North America].