Yin Chai Hu

Stellaria dichotoma var. lanceolata (lanceleaf stitchwort) is a tufted perennial herb in the Caryophyllaceae family, native to dry, sandy, grassland and steppe habitats of northern China, Mongolia, and Siberia, growing 15-30 cm tall. From a stout, twisted, longitudinal-furrowed, pale yellow to brownish taproot 15-40 cm long arise numerous slender, dichotomously branching, finely pubescent stems. The opposite leaves are linear-lanceolate, 1-2.5 cm long, sessile, with entire margins and prominent midrib, narrower than in the typical variety. The small white star-shaped flowers, 7-9 mm across, have five deeply two-cleft petals, five sepals, and ten stamens; they are borne singly on slender pedicels in dichotomously branched cymes. The fruit is a small ovoid capsule (POWO; Wikipedia).