SAGINA MARITIMA
Family and Genus:- See- CARYOPHYLLACEAE
Common Names:- Sea pearlwort
Homotypic Synonyms:- Alsine maritima, Sagina apetala var. maritima, Sagina
apetala var. maritima.
Meaning:- Sagina (L) Fodder
Maritima (L) Marine, growing by or in the sea.
General description:- Annual, usually glabrous. with or without a central rosette of
leaves.
Stems:-
1) Main stem flowering, it and the numerous lateral branches varying from
procumbent to erect; sometimes densely caespitose.
Leaves:-
1) Linear-lanceolate, somewhat fleshy, obtuse or mucronulate, but not aristate
rarely ciliate.
Flowers:-
1) Usually 4-merous, solitary; peduncles erect, glabrous, filiform.
2) Sepals ovate, obtuse, not mucronate, often with a purplish margin.
3) Petals minute, or absent.
Fruit:-
1) Ripe capsule, equalling or slightly shorter than the sepals.
2) Seeds, usually more than 0·4 mm.
Key features:-
1) Leaves, muticous or very shortly mucronate.
2) Seeds, usually more than 0·4 mm.
Habitat:- Usually in maritime habitats, occasionally by vernal pools or in damp
sand along roads and tracks up to 500 m.
Distribution:- Widespread along Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, extending to
Norway, the Azores and Cyprus region. Scattered around the coastal areas of
Crete, not too common.
Flowering time:- Mar-May.
Photos by:- Zacharias Angourakis
Very variable, many local species and subspecies having been described. All
combinations of characters may be found, and it is difficult to make any useful
subdivision.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION
