Spergula arvensis |
Spergula pentandra |
|
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corn-spurrey, corn-spurry, spargoute des champs, starwort, stickwort |
five-stamen spurry, wingstem spurrey, wingstem spurry |
|
Habit | Plants glabrous or, often, glandular. | Plants glabrous or moderately pubescent. |
Stems | usually branched proximally, 10–50+ cm. |
often branched proximally, 5–30 cm. |
Leaf | blades usually appearing terete, 1.5–3(–5) cm, margins often revolute, forming abaxial channel. |
blades usually flat, 0.5–1.5 cm, usually not channeled abaxially. |
Pedicels | erect to ascending, reflexed, secund in fruit. |
erect to ascending, spreading or, sometimes, reflexed in fruit, not secund. |
Flowers | sepals 3.5–5 mm; petals ovate, 3/4–1 times as long as sepals in flower, apex obtuse; stamens usually 10. |
sepals 2.5–4 mm; petals ± lanceolate, 3/4–7/8 times as long as sepals in flower, apex acute to acuminate; stamens usually 5. |
Capsule | valves 3.5–5 mm. |
valves 4–5 mm. |
Seeds | sometimes keeled or winged, subglobose, 1–1.1 mm wide, surface minutely roughened or obscurely low-tuberculate (50x), covered with white, club-shaped papillae in part or throughout (packing of seeds in capsule may prevent papillae development in spots), wings white, ± 0.1 mm wide. |
winged, lenticular, 0.6–0.9 mm wide, surface minutely roughened or obscurely tuberculate (50x), papillae absent or relatively few in marginal ring; wings usually white, sometimes slightly tannish, 0.4–0.6 mm wide. |
2n | = 18, 36 (both Europe). |
= 18 (Europe). |
Spergula arvensis |
Spergula pentandra |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring–early summer. | Flowering spring–early summer. |
Habitat | Sandy roadsides, cultivated fields, other disturbed areas | Sandy fields, other disturbed areas |
Elevation | 10-2000 m (0-6600 ft) | 0-100 m (0-300 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; AL; AR; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; ID; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SC; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; SPM; Greenland; Eurasia [Introduced in North America; introduced in Central America, South America, Asia (Korea), Africa, Australia]
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CT; NC; NJ; VA; Europe; sw Asia; nw Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced in Australia] |
Discussion | Spergula arvensis is often a significant weed in sandy crop lands, but it is sometimes used as a forage crop in areas with poor, sandy soils; it was intentionally introduced to Crawford County, Michigan, in 1888 (O. Clute and O. Palmer 1893). Historical collections are known also from Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota, where Spergula arvensis may have been introduced but apparently did not persist. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Spergula pentandra was first collected in North America in 1956; see D. B. Snyder (1987) for an account of earlier confusion of this taxon with S. morisonii in New Jersey. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 15. | FNA vol. 5, p. 16. |
Parent taxa | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Polycarpoideae > Spergula | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Polycarpoideae > Spergula |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. arvensis var. sativa | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 440. 1753 | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 440. (1753) |
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