Spergularia media
Encyclopedia
Spergularia media is a species of flowering plant in the pink family
known by the common name greater sea-spurry. It is native to Eurasia and the Mediterranean
, where it grows in many types of habitat, including disturbed areas, including places with saline substrates, such as salt marsh
es and beaches. It is known in many other parts of the world as an introduced species
and a common roadside weed
. In North America it is a "highway halophyte
", often springing up at the margins of roads that are heavily salted in the winter. It is an annual or perennial herb producing a narrow stem lined with fleshy linear leaves. The small flowers have five pointed sepal
s and five oval white or pink-tinged petals. The tiny seeds have winged margins.
Caryophyllaceae
The Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactaceae and Polygonaceae...
known by the common name greater sea-spurry. It is native to Eurasia and the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, where it grows in many types of habitat, including disturbed areas, including places with saline substrates, such as salt marsh
Salt marsh
A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...
es and beaches. It is known in many other parts of the world as an introduced species
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
and a common roadside weed
Weed
A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More specifically, the term is often used to...
. In North America it is a "highway halophyte
Halophyte
A halophyte is a plant that grows where it is affected by salinity in the root area or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs, and seashores. An example of a halophyte is the salt marsh grass Spartina alterniflora . Relatively few plant species are...
", often springing up at the margins of roads that are heavily salted in the winter. It is an annual or perennial herb producing a narrow stem lined with fleshy linear leaves. The small flowers have five pointed sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s and five oval white or pink-tinged petals. The tiny seeds have winged margins.