Spergularia salina |
Spergularia echinosperma |
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lesser sea-spurrey, salt marsh sand-spurry, salt sandspurry, salt-marsh sand-spurrey, spergulaire des arais salés |
bristle-seed sand-spurrey, bristleseed sandspurry |
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Habit | Plants annual, delicate, 8–25(–30) cm, stipitate-glandular, at least in inflorescence. | Plants annual, delicate, 5–15 cm, stipitate-glandular throughout. |
Taproots | ± slender. |
slender. |
Stems | erect to ascending or prostrate, usually much-branched proximally; main stem 0.6–2(–3) mm diam. proximally. |
erect to ascending, simple to diffusely branched proximally and distally; main stem occasionally prostrate, 0.2–1.5 mm diam. proximally. |
Leaves | stipules inconspicuous, dull white, broadly triangular, 1.2–3.5 mm, longer than wide, apex acute to short-acuminate; blade linear, (0.8–)1.5–4 cm, fleshy, apex blunt to apiculate; axillary leaf clusters usually absent. |
stipules inconspicuous, silvery to dull tan, broadly triangular, 1.4–2.4 mm, shorter than wide, apex acuminate; blade linear, 0.5–3.5 cm, somewhat fleshy, apex blunt to apiculate; axillary leaf cluster usually absent. |
Pedicels | reflexed and oriented to 1 side in fruit. |
reflexed and oriented to 1 side in fruit. |
Flowers | sepals connate 0.5–1 mm proximally, lobes often 3-veined, ovate to elliptic, 2.5–4.5 mm, to 4.8 mm in fruit, margins 0.1–0.5 mm wide, apex acute to rounded; petals white or pink to rosy, ovate to elliptic-oblong, 0.8–1 times as long as sepals; stamens (1–)2–3(–5); styles 0.4–0.7 mm. |
sepals connate 0.2–0.3 mm proximally, lobes 1–3-veined, lanceolate to ovate, 2.5–3.6 mm, to 4 mm in fruit, margins 0.1–0.5 mm wide, apex rounded; petals white to pink or rosy, lanceolate, 0.4–0.6 times as long as sepals; stamens 1–4(–5); styles 0.3–0.4 mm. |
Capsules | greenish to tan, 2.8–6.4 mm, 1–1.5 times as long as sepals. |
greenish to tan, 2.8–4 mm, 0.9–1.4 times as long as sepals. |
Seeds | light brown to reddish brown, with submarginal groove, broadly ovate, ± plump, 0.5–0.7(–0.8) mm, dull, ± smooth, often with gland-tipped papillae (30x); wing usually absent or incomplete. |
reddish brown to blackish, silver tinged, with submarginal groove, pyriform, ± compressed, 0.5–0.7(–0.8) mm, shiny, slightly roughened, with dense, gland-tipped papillae and appearing echinate (30x); wing usually absent, whitish to reddish brown, 0.1–0.2 mm wide, margins irregular and not papillate. |
Cymes | simple to 3+-compound or flowers solitary and axillary. |
commonly 4–8+-compound. |
2n | = 18? (Asia), 36 (Europe). |
= 18, 36 (both Europe). |
Spergularia salina |
Spergularia echinosperma |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer–early fall. | Flowering spring. |
Habitat | Mud flats, alkaline fields, sandy river bottoms, sandy coasts, salt marshes, saline highway edges (Great Lakes region) | Dunes, clay flats, sandy river banks |
Elevation | 0-1400 m (0-4600 ft) | 0-20+ m (0-100+ ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; TX; UT; VA; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; SPM; Eurasia; almost cosmopolitan via introduction [Introduced and native]
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AL; GA; LA; TX; Europe [Introduced in North America] |
Discussion | While Spergularia salina may be native in coastal areas and some inland saline sites in much of the cited range, populations in the Great Lakes region are introduced where, as in S. media, highway and sidewalk salt runoff has created favorable habitats. Variety tenuis has been distinguished from var. salina by some authors as follows: cyme crowded versus lax, sepals 1.6–3.8 mm versus 2.4–5 mm, mature capsules 3–4.4 mm versus 3.6–6.4 mm, respectively. Due to the extreme overlap in morphologic features as well as geographic ranges, var. tenuis is not recognized here. The name Spergularia marina var. leiosperma (Kindberg) Gurke has been applied to plants with smooth seeds but, as pointed out by R. P. Rossbach (1940), separation of plants with smooth versus papillose seeds is not practical. Some authors believe that the correct name for this species is Spergularia marina. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 22. | FNA vol. 5, p. 22. |
Parent taxa | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Polycarpoideae > Spergularia | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Polycarpoideae > Spergularia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. marina, S. marina var. tenuis, S. salina var. tenuis, S. tenuis, Tissa marina | |
Name authority | J. Presl & C. Presl: Fl. ech. 95. (1819) | Celakovský: Arch. Naturwiss. Landesdurchf. Bohmen 4: 867. (1881) |
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