Rock Sandwort is a low growing, herbaceous perennial in the honeysuckle family, native to eastern Canada and the United States. In its natural setting, it can be found growing along rocky summits, woodlands, forests, ledges and rock crevices. It has a low growing habit, forming mats or dense clumps and tuffs. Small dished shaped white 5-petaled flowers grow on thin stalks as a form called hypanthium (a structure where the basal portions of the calyx (corolla) and the stamens form a cup-shaped tube that contains the nectar secreting organ). Its taproots are woody and thickened with many branches. Rock Sandwort does best in full sun and can thrive on dry conditions on rocky or gravely soils. In the wild, it occurs often on limestone or sandstone ledges with significant sun exposure. The plant has a long tough root that enables in to grow in cracks and holes in rocky substrates. Given the nature of its native growing environment, it can be challenging to grow in the typical home garden or landscape. Rock Sandwort has a patchy distribution in the United States and is considered endangered in many states and is listed as extinct in Delaware. Rock Sandwort has slender, wiry, forking, stems that spread along the ground for 4 to 12 inches and form loose mats.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
Soil texture
Shallow Rocky
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Occasionally Dry
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Clumping; Dense; Mounding
Texture
Coarse
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Opposite
Leaf shape
Lanceolate; Linear
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf feel
Leathery
Leaf size
< 1 inch long, < 1 inch wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
This plant has opposite, needle-like leaves with tufts of shorter leaves in axis. Leaves are often matted and tightly overlapping. The leaf blade is erect to spreading, veined, and rigid.
Flower color
White
Flower form
Cyme; Panicle
Flower shape
Saucer
Flower detail
This plant has small, five-petal flowers. Petals are rounded or slightly notched.
Bloom time
Spring; Summer
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit detail
The fruit is dry and splits open when ripe.
Stem color
Green
Stem detail
Stems are 3 to 16 inches long with erect or ascending branches. Flowering stems can be up to 10 times as long as leaves.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
Eastern Canada, Central and Eastern United States south to Texas