Baccone's Sand-spurrey

Scientific Name:

Spergularia bocconei

Status:

Native of Mediterranean Europe but introduced into all Australian States and to New Zealand.

Plant Description:

Annual or Biennial with a slender taproot. Stems usually spreading along the ground before rising. Leaves fleshy, linear, 0.4-1 mm wide and 10-30 mm long, hairless and mucronate or shortly awned. Flowers white or pink inside and normally with 2-5 stamens. Petals equal to or shorter than the 3.5-5 mm sepals, which may or may not have dark purple basal spots. Capsules about as long as the sepals and contain, unwinged, pale olive-brown, smooth to finely papillose (with tiny bumps) seeds, 0.3-0.5 mm long.

Habitat:

Occasional in sandy depressions and saline swamps.

Region	Salinity Class	Waterlogging Class
Mallee, Central and Northern	S0, S1, S2, S3	W0, W1, W2

Comments:

Similar in some respects to Spergularia rubra and S. marina but distinguished by its smaller, pale olive-brown seeds. A number of Sea- or Sand-spurrey species occur in Victoria and can be difficult to tell apart. A simplified key to Spergularia species can be accessed here – Key to species.

Page top