SAGINA APETALA

Family and Genus:- See- CARYOPHYLLACEAE

Common Names:- Annual pearlwort

Homotypic Synonyms:- Alsine apetala, Sagina inconspicua, Sagina

procumbens var. apetala, Sagina quaternella

Meaning:- Sagina (L) Fodder

Apetala (Gr) Without petals

General description:- Small, annual, usually branched from the base.

Stems:-

1) 2-6 cm, suberect, slender.

Leaves:-

1) Cauline, linear-subulate, somewhat fleshy, long-mucronate to aristate, usually

more or less ciliate towards the base.

Flowers:-

1) Solitary, 4(-5)-merous on long, filiform, glandular-pubescent to subglabrous

pedicels.

2) Sepals, 2-2.5 mm, nanowly ovate, acute to mucronate.

3) Petals, minute, often falling early, rarely absent.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule, ovoid, equalling or slightly exceeding the sepals.

2) Seeds, c. 0.3 mm, pyriform, minutely tuberculate.

Key features:-

1) Delicate, ± erect annuals

2) Cauline leaves, long-mucronate to anistate.

3) Pedicels, usually glandular-pubescent.

4) Sepals, acute to mucronate.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Bare, open ground, usually on sandy soil. 0-1100 m. occasionally to 1400

m. in dolines.

Distribution:- Widespread throughout the Mediterranean region C & W Europe and

SW Asia. Widespread on Crete.

Flowering time:- Mar-May, sometimes later.

Photos by:- Fotis Samaritakis and Dimokratia Vrentzou