Upper montane, sub-alpine, alpine.  Forests, moist areas, tundra. Summer.
Ophir Pass Road, July 20, 2006.

As common as this plant is, I passed it by for years -- probably thinking it was Bedstraw, Galium septentrionale.  I should have looked more closely, because this is a strangely interesting plant.   Stems often lean and twist over each other, sometimes forming a matted thicket two to ten inches tall and six inches wide.  Petal-less flowers dangle like dainty earrings (or umbrella spokes); five sepals are green with light margins (see bottom flower in the picture below).  William Weber notes that the plant is "extremely variable" in appearance and Stanley Welsh notes that it is "one of the most common species of Stellaria in Utah".

The plant was named by Porphir Turczaninow (1796-1864) in 1842.

Upper montane, sub-alpine, alpine.  Forests, moist areas, tundra. Summer.
Ophir Pass Road, July 20, 2006.