Dryas octopetala

Scientific name: Dryas octopetala L.
Common name: Mountain avens

Description
Habit: A creeping perennial with woody base, to 50 cm high.
Stems: Prostrate, rooting at nodes.
Leaves: Alternate, evergreen, stalked, 15-20 mm long, with leafy stipules, undivided, oval to oblong, bluntly toothed.
Flowers: White, actinomorphic, hermaphrodite, 2.5-3.5 cm across, solitary on erect stalks; calyx of 8 sepals; petals 8, free; stamens numerous; carpels numerous, superior ovary, not sunk in calyx-tube.
Fruits: An achene, the cluster crowned with long, white and feathery styles.

Habitat: Limestone pavement and calcareous gravels, rarely on mountain cliffs.Distribution: Abundant in Burren, very rare elsewhere.

Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: Yes

%LABEL% (%SOURCE%)