Spergula arvensis L.
spurrey
Annual herb, (5)-15-30-(60) cm tall. Stems and lvs sparsely to densely covered in glandular hairs. Lvs linear, fleshy, channelled beneath, (5)-10-25-(40) × 0.5 mm; stipules broadly ovate to triangular, scarious, glandular-ciliate, 1-2 mm long. Dichasium lax; peduncle usually = stem internodes; bracts small, scarious. Sepals ovate, glandular, (3)-4-5-(6) mm long; margins scarious. Petals white, c. = sepals. Stamens 5-10. Styles 5. Capsule ovoid, smooth, straw yellow or pale brown, 5-valved, 5-6 mm long, > sepals. Seeds 1 mm diam., biconvex, smooth or papillate, keeled or very narrowly winged, almost black when ripe.
N.: throughout; S.: Marlborough, Canterbury, Westland, coastal Otago, Southland, Fiordland; St.; K., C.
Europe 1855
Sand dunes, waste land, roadsides, gardens and arable land, river banks, stony river terraces, railway yards, bare soil, grassy places.
