Species name :

Spergularia rubra(L.) Presl
Published in Fl. Cechica 94 (1819)

Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.)

Spergularia campestris

Full list of synonyms : [Euro+Med] [PlantList] [IPNI] [POWO] [Catalogue of Life ]

Plant Family :

Caryophyllaceae Juss. (The Pink or Carnation Family)
39 species from the Caryophyllaceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands.

English name(s) :

Sand Spurrey, Red Sand Spurrey

Maltese name(s) :

Arenarja roża

Status for Malta :

Indigenous. Present on the Maltese islands before man

Frequency :

Very Common     Common     [Frequent]     Scarce     Rare     Very rare     Extinct

Growth form :

Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: THEROPHYTE (annuals)
Germination [info]: Dicotyledon

Legal Protection [link]:

Not Protected by Law (LN200/2011 or LN311/2006)

Red List (1989) :

Not listed in the Red Data Book of the Maltese Islands

Flowering Time :

Feb-Jun

Colour of Flowers:

Pink

Habitat in Europe:

Sandy soils

Preferred habitat in Malta:

Data will be available in the next update of this website.

Botanical Description:

Annual to perennial with slender to somewhat woody taproot; stems 5-25 cm, diffuse, decumbent or procumbent. Leaves very fasciculate; stipules lanceolate, acuminate, silvery. Bracts of the inflorescence almost as large as the leaves. Sepals and petals 3-4 mm; petals uniformly pink; stamens (5-)10. Capsule 4-5 mm, about equalling the sepals. Seeds 0.45-0.55 mm, unwinged, dark brown, subtrigonous.

Chromosome number:

2n=36, 54

Distributional range:

Throughout Europe

Distributional map in Europe
and the Mediterranean region (2018):

Occurrences in Europe.
(from Flora Europaea pre year 1993):

All Europe except the Azores, Doubtful in Crete, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Russia and former USSR, Svalbard archipelago

Occurrences in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
(Euro+Med Checklist, 2017) - Country codes

Ab(A) AE(G) Ag Al Au(A) Be Bl(I M N) Br Bu Co Cr Ct -Cy Da Eg Es Fe Ga(F) Ge Gr Hb(E) He Ho Hs(A S) Hu IJ It La Li -LS Lt Lu -Ma Mk Mo Po Rm Sa Si(M S) Sk Sl Sn Su Tu(A E) Uk -Uk(K) [Rf(N)]