Spergula pentandra

Plants glabrous or moderately pubescent. Stems often branched proximally, 5–30 cm. Leaf blades usually flat, 0.5–1.5 cm, usually not channeled abaxially. Pedicels erect to ascending, spreading or, sometimes, reflexed in fruit, not secund. Flowers: 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 4–5 mm. Seeds winged, lenticular, 0.6–0.9 mm wide, surface minutely roughened or obscurely tuberculate (50×), papillae absent or relatively few in marginal ring; wings usually white, sometimes slightly tannish, 0.4–0.6 mm wide. 2n = 18 (Europe).

Phenology: Flowering spring–early summer.
Habitat: Sandy fields, other disturbed areas
Elevation: 0-100 m

Conn., N.J., N.C., Va., Europe, sw Asia, nw Africa, introduced in Australia.

Discussion

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.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa