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    The genus Eremogone was named in 1833 by Eduard Fenzl (1808-1879).  The Synthesis of the North American Flora, A Utah Flora, and Intermountain Flora call the genus "Arenaria".  The 2005 Flora of North America accepts Eremogone not Arenaria.

     "Erem" is Greek for "a lonely place" or "desert", and "gon" is Greek for "seed"; the allusion is of unknown meaning. 

 

 Synonym: Eremogone congesta.  Arenaria congesta.  (Sandwort)
Synonym: Alsinaceae.  Caryophyllaceae.  (Chickweed Family)

Foothills to subalpine. Woodlands, openings. Spring, summer.
Mesa Verde National Park, Prater Ridge Trail, June 3, 2004.

The flowers of this common Sandwort sit atop  slender, leaning, swaying, almost leafless stalks above grass-like tufts of basal leaves.  Clumps of stalks and flowers arise from spreading underground thick roots.   "Eremogone congesta is highly polymorphic" according to the Flora of North America which recognizes nine varieties.

Thomas Nuttall named this species Arenaria congesta in 1838 and S. S. Ikonnikov renamed it Eremogone congesta in 1973.  "Congesta" refers to the crowded flower head.
Synonym: Eremogone congesta.  Arenaria congesta.  (Sandwort)
Synonym: Alsinaceae.  Caryophyllaceae.  (Chickweed Family)

Foothills to subalpine. Woodlands, openings. Spring, summer.
Mesa Verde National Park, Farview, May 31, 2004.
Synonym: Eremogone fendleri.  Arenaria fendleri.  (Sandwort)
Synonym: Alsinaceae.  Caryophyllaceae.  (Chickweed Family)

Montane, subalpine, alpine. Woodlands, openings, tundra. Summer.
Sharkstooth Trail, July 18, 2005.

We find this Eremogone most often on soils that have accumulated at the base of rocks and scree in the high subalpine and alpine forests.  Tight tufts of several inch long very narrow and upright leaves in mats of a foot in diameter are topped by numerous long stalks of white flowers.  Eremogone fendleri might be confused with Cilaria austromontana.  

Augustus Fendleri was a superb plant collector but unfortunately collected in the Southwest for only a few years in the mid-1840s.  (More biographical information.)
Synonym: Eremogone fendleri.  Arenaria fendleri. (Sandwort)
Synonym: Alsinaceae.  Caryophyllaceae.  (Chickweed Family)

Montane, subalpine, alpine. Woodlands, openings, tundra. Summer.
Sharkstooth Trail, July 18, 2005.
Synonym: Eremogone fendleri.  Arenaria fendleri. (Sandwort)
Synonym: Alsinaceae.  Caryophyllaceae.  (Chickweed Family)

Montane, subalpine, alpine. Woodlands, openings, tundra. Summer.
Lone Mesa State Park, July 2,  2008.

Sticky, glandular hairs abound.
Synonym: Eremogone kingii.  Arenaria kingii. (Sandwort)
Synonym: Alsinaceae.  Caryophyllaceae.  (Chickweed Family)

Semi-desert. Shrublands, openings. Spring.
McElmo Canyon, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, April 27, 2005.

Petals are white but floral parts impart a yellow hue to the flowers.  Eremogone kingii has an open spray of flowers rather than the close-packed flower clusters of Eremogone congesta; both species have long grass-like leaves; congesta grows at higher altitudes. 

Clarence King was a geologist, mining engineer, and first Director of the United States Geological Survey.   (More biographical information.)
Synonym: Eremogone kingii.  Arenaria kingii. (Sandwort)
Synonym: Alsinaceae.  Caryophyllaceae.  (Chickweed Family)

Semi-desert. Shrublands, openings. Spring.
McElmo Canyon, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, April 27, 2005.