Flower:

3 to 15 tiny white flowers on slender stalks radiate from the end of the stems. The flowers are very tiny, less than 1/8 inch, have 5 fused petals with distinct lobes that may be erect or spreading. The green tubular calyx holding the flower is minutely hairy, has 5 sharply pointed erect lobes and is longer than the flower.

At the base of the cluster is a whorl of leaf-like bracts that are egg to diamond shaped, up to about 1/6 inch long. Flower stalks are unequal in length.

Leaves and stems:

Leaves are in a tight basal rosette, oblong or lance shaped, up to 2/3 inch long, toothless or with shallow teeth, minutely hairy, tapered to a point at both ends on an obscure, minute stalk. A plant typically has multiple stems from the base but is unbranched; stems are minutely hairy.

Fruit:

Fruit is a smooth, round capsule about 1/6 inch long.

Notes:

If American lotus (Nelumbo lutea) is noted as Minnesota's largest native wildflower, Western Rock Jasmine certainly vies for its smallest. It can have very dense populations but it takes a discerning and determined eye to pick it out of the landscape, and is only of interest to those who celebrate the diversity of nature. A keen eye may pick up on dots of olive-colored flower heads or perhaps reddish leaves buried in the grass. It is easily distinguished from its rare cousin, Northern Androsace (Androsace septentrionalis) which is larger in stature and has rather narrower bracts at the base of the flower cluster.