Spurreys, Pearlworts & Sandworts
Chickweed Family - Caryophyllaceae
Corn Spurrey Spergula arvensisNative throughout much of the Old World and widely introduced elsewhere as an annual of disturbed ground. A relatively large spurrey, with stems sometimes to 60cm in length and leaves 1-4cm in length. Flower stems are angled downwards in bud and after flowering and the seeds are unwinged.
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Winged Spurrey Spergula pentandra
Native throughout the Mediterranean Region, Macaronesia and north into Central Europe. Seeds broadly winged.
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Greater Sea-spurrey Spergularia media
Native throughout Europe and eastwards to Central Asia. Flowers 10-12mm across (occasionally a little less), with very pale pink, almost white and relatively broad petals. Main stems hairless, upper stems with a few glandular hairs. Seed capsule 7-9mm. Seeds often with a circular 'wing'. Less common than Lesser Sea-spurrey and less likely to be found inland, being more closely tied to open, saltmarsh plant communities.
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Lesser Sea-spurrey Spergularia marina
Native in saltmarshes throughout much of the temperate world. Flowers 5-8mm across, with pale pink, relatively narrow, petals. Main stems hairless, upper stems with glandular hairs. Seed capsule 4-6.5mm. Seeds usually with a circular 'wing'. In coastal habitats, this species is generally found a little higher up the saline gradient than Greater Sea-spurrey, being more typical of drier saltmarsh.
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Sand Spurrey Spergularia rubra
Native across Eurasia, the Mediterranean Region and North-east Africa.
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Greek Sea-spurrey Spergularia bocconei
Native from Macaronesia and the Mediterranean basin eastward to Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Flowers pink or white, 7-9mm across. Rather similar to Sand Spurrey, but flowers paler and flower bracts relatively small and less leaf-like. All seeds unwinged.
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Annual Pearlwort Sagina apetala
Native throughout Europe and the Mediterranean Region, eastwards to western Asia and India. Flowers petalless, the four green sepals with rather blunt tips, spreading conspicuously and becoming red-tinted in fruit. A tiny, slender, easily-overlooked annual that begins with a basal rosette of leaves which soon withers, leaving the flowers borne on slender, upright, non-rooting stems.
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Sea Pearlwort Sagina maritima
Native to coastal regions of Macaronesia, Nroth-west Europe and the Mediterranean Region. Flowers petalless, the four green sepals with rather blunt tips, more or less upright in fruit. Leaves thick and succulent with rounded tips and tiny points less than 0.1mm long.
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Mediterranean Sandwort Sabulina mediterranea
Native throughout the Mediterranean Region. A small and easily overlooked species whose white flowers are often already over even by mid spring.
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Fine-leaved Sandwort Sabulina tenuifolia
Native throughout most of Europe and the Mediterranean Basin, eastward to the Arabian Peninsula and Pakistan. A small, delicate and easily overlooked plant but the combination of white flowers with long, pointed sepals and linear leaves is distinctive.
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Slender Sandwort Arenaria leptoclados
Native throughout most of Europe and the Mediterranean Basin to western Asia, East Africa and Pakistan. An upright but low-growing species. Difficult to tell from Thyme-leaved Sandwort and formerly both were considered forms of a single species. Slender Sandwort has petals 1.1-1.6mm long, sepals 2.1-3.1mm x 0.5-0.8mm and seed capsule conical with straight sides.
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