Spergularia echinosperma

Plants annual, delicate, 5–15 cm, stipitate-glandular throughout. Taproots slender. Stems erect to ascending, simple to diffusely branched proximally and distally; main stem occasionally prostrate, 0.2–1.5 mm diam. proximally. Leaves: 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. Cymes commonly 4–8+-compound. Pedicels reflexed and oriented to 1 side in fruit. Flowers: 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, 2.8–4 mm, 0.9–1.4 times as long as sepals. Seeds 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 (30×); wing usually absent, whitish to reddish brown, 0.1–0.2 mm wide, margins irregular and not papillate. 2n = 18, 36 (both Europe).

Phenology: Flowering spring.
Habitat: Dunes, clay flats, sandy river banks
Elevation: 0-20+ m

Introduced; Ala., Ga., La., Tex., Europe.

Discussion

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa