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Spergularia fruticosa

Interesting Facts

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Description

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Family Caryophyllaceae

Herbs annual or perennial , rarely subshrubs or shrubs . Stems and branches usually swollen at nodes. Leaves opposite, decussate, rarely alternate or verticillate , simple , entire, usually connate at base ; stipules scarious , bristly , or often absent. Inflorescence of cymes or cymose panicles, rarely flowers solitary or few in racemes , capitula, pseudoverticillasters, or umbels. Flowers actinomorphic , bisexual , rarely unisexual , occasionally cleistogamous . Sepals (4 or) 5, free , imbricate, or connate into a tube , leaflike or scarious, persistent , sometimes bracteate below calyx. Petals (4 or) 5, rarely absent, free, often comprising claw and limb; limb entire or split, usually with coronal scales at juncture of claw and limb. Stamens (2--) 5--10, in 1 or 2 series. Pistil 1; carpels 2--5, united into a compound ovary. Ovary superior, 1-loculed or basally imperfectly 2--5-loculed. Gynophore present or absent. Placentation free, central, rarely basal; ovules (1 or) few or numerous , campylotropous. Styles (1 or) 2--5, sometimes united at base. Fruit usually a capsule, with pericarp crustaceous , scarious, or papery , dehiscing by teeth or valves 1 or 2 × as many as styles, rarely berrylike with irregular dehiscence or an achene. Seeds 1 to numerous, reniform , ovoid , or rarely dorsiventrally compressed , abaxially grooved , blunt , or sharply pointed , rarely fimbriate-pectinate; testa granular , striate or tuberculate , rarely smooth or spongy ; embryo strongly curved and surrounding perisperm or straight but eccentric ; perisperm mealy.

Between 75 and 80 genera and ca. 2000 species: widespread but mainly of temperate or warm-temperate occurrence in the N hemisphere, with principal centers of distribution in the Mediterranean region and W Asia to W China and the Himalayas, fewer species in Africa S of the Sahara, America, and Oceania; 30 genera (two endemic) and 390 species (193 endemic) in China.

Arenaria, Silene, and Stellaria contain over half the species in the family in China. They are mostly concentrated in the Qinghai-Xizang plateau , and are especially rich from the Hengduan Mountains to the Himalayas. The main uses of this family are medicinal and ornamental . Dianthus superbus, Pseudostellaria heterophylla, Stellaria dichotoma var. lanceolata, and Vaccaria hispanica are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine . Some species of Arenaria, Dianthus, Gypsophila, Psammosilene, and Silene are used as medicinal herbs among the people or are habitually used in local Chinese medicine. Many species of Dianthus, Gypsophila, Lychnis, Saponaria, and Silene are grown as ornamentals. Atocion armeria (Linnaeus) Rafinesque ( Silene armeria Linnaeus), native to Russia and Europe, is also cultivated in China. It differs from Silene in having a corymbose inflorescence and obscure calyx veins. Wu Cheng-yih, Ke Ping, Zhou Li-hua, Tang Chang-lin & Lu De-quan. 1996. Caryophyllaceae. In: Tang Chang-lin, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 26: 47–449.[1]

Genus Spergularia

Herbs, annual or strongly perennial with branched, woody caudex . Taproots filiform to stout. Stems erect to sprawling , simple to freely branching distally or throughout, terete , sometimes woody. Leaves opposite, axillary clusters of leaves often present, distinct , sessile; stipules 2 per node, white to tan, lanceolate and acuminate to widely triangular, margins entire, apex entire to variously split; blade 1-veined, threadlike to linear , mostly succulent, apex acute to acuminate. Inflorescences terminal cymes, branching symmetrically or to 1 side (monochasium ), simple to 8+-compound or sometimes flowers solitary and axillary; bracts usually paired or sometimes single, smaller, foliaceous , distalmost sometimes with scarious margins. Pedicels ascending to erect, divergently spreading , reflexed , or arching downward in fruit. Flowers: perianth and androecium hypogynous, briefly perigynous; hypanthium dish- or cup-shaped, not abruptly expanded distally; sepals connate in proximal 1/ 5, green, lanceolate to ovate , 0.9-8 mm, herbaceous, margins scarious, apex acute to obtuse ; petals 5, white to pink, blade apex entire; nectaries as lateral expansion of bases of filaments opposite sepals; stamens 1-10, arising from rim of hypanthium; filaments distinct; styles 3, distinct or nearly so, filiform, 0.2-3 mm, glabrous proximally; stigmas 3, linear along adaxial surface of styles, obscurely papillate (30×). Capsules ovoid , opening by 3 spreading valves with recurved tips ; carpophore absent. Seeds 30-150+, light to dark brown, reddish brown, or black, circular to angular, plump or laterally compressed , smooth to variously sculptured to papillate, complete or partial, membranous, laciniate , marginal wing often present, appendage absent. x = 9.

Species ca. 60: coastal and saline areas, w North America (including Mexico), Central America, w South America, Europe (Mediterranean region), Africa (Mediterranean region).[2]

Taxonomy

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Similar Species

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Members of the genus Spergularia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 19 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

S. atrosperma (Black Sandspurry) · S. bocconii (Boccone's Sandspurry) · S. canadensis (Canadian Sandspurry) · S. canadensis var. canadensis (Canadian Sandspurry) · S. canadensis var. occidentalis (Western Sandspurry) · S. diandra (Diandra Sandspurry) · S. echinosperma (Bristleseed Sandspurry) · S. macrotheca (Sticky Sandspurry) · S. macrotheca var. leucantha (Sticky Sandspurry) · S. macrotheca var. longistyla (Sticky Sandspurry) · S. macrotheca var. macrotheca (Sticky Sandspurry) · S. marina var. marina (Sea Spurreys) · S. maritima (Media Sandspurry) · S. platensis (La Plata Sandspurry) · S. purpurea (Sandspurry) · S. rubra (Purple Sandspurry) · S. salina (Salt Sandspurry) · S. salina var. salina (Salt Sandspurry) · S. villosa (Hairy Sandspurry)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Dequan Lu, Zhengyi Wu, Lihua Zhou, Shilong Chen, Michael G. Gilbert, Magnus Lidén, John McNeill, John K. Morton, Bengt Oxelman, Richard K. Rabeler, Mats Thulin, Nicholas J. Turland & Warren L. Wagner "Caryophyllaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 6 Page 1. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. Ronald L. Hartman, Richard K. Rabeler "Spergularia". in Flora of North America Vol. 5. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
Last Revised: 7/26/2012