Spergularia rubra, the red sandspurry[1] or red sand-spurrey, is a plant species in the family Caryophyllaceae. It is native to Europe, Asia and North Africa, and it is present on other continents, including North and South America and Australia, as an introduced species and in many areas a common weed. It grows in a wide variety of habitat types.

Spergularia rubra
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Caryophyllaceae
Genus: Spergularia
Species:
S. rubra
Binomial name
Spergularia rubra

It is an annual or perennial herb producing a slender, glandular stem up to about 25 centimeters long. It is lined with slightly fleshy linear or threadlike leaves each under 2 centimeters long. The leaves may be tipped with hard points or spines, and they are accompanied by shiny white lance-shaped stipules. Flowers occur in the leaf axils and at the tips of the stems. They have hairy, glandular sepals and five round-oval pink petals.

References edit

  1. ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Spergularia rubra". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 25 November 2015.

External links edit