Spergularia rubra (L.) J. Presl & C. Presl, Caryophyllaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Arenaria rubra L.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: wu chi ni qi gu

English: purple sandspurry, purple sandwort, red sand-spurrey, sand-spurrey

French: spergulaire rouge

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Plants annual or short-lived perennial, delicate, 4-25 cm, stipitate-glandular in inflorescence. Taproots slender to ± stout. Stems erect to ascending or prostrate, usually much-branched proximally; main stem 0.3-0.5 mm in diameter proximally. Leaves: stipules conspicuous, shiny white, lanceolate, 3.5-5 mm, apex long-acuminate; blade filiform to linear, 0.4-1.5 cm, scarcely fleshy, apex apiculate to spine-tipped; axillary leaves 2-4+ per cluster. Cymes simple to 3+-compound or flowers solitary and axillary. Pedicels ascending to reflexed. Flowers: sepals connate 0.5-0.7 mm proximally, lobes often 3-veined, lanceolate, (2-) 2.5-3.2 mm, to 4 mm in fruit, margins 0.1-0.3 mm wide, apex obtuse to acute; petals pink, obovate to ovate, 0.9-1 times as long as sepals; stamens 6-10; styles 0.6-0.8 mm. Capsules greenish to tan, 3.5-5 mm, 1-1.2 times as long as sepals. Seeds red-brown to dark brown, with submarginal groove, broadly ovate or ± truncate, angular at broad end, plump, 0.4-0.6 mm, sculpturing of parallel, wavy lines, margins with peglike papillae (30x); wing absent"  (Flora of North America online).

Habitat/ecology:  In North America, "Open forests, gravelly glades, meadows, mud flats, roadsides, disturbed places; 0-2400 m"  (Flora of North America online).  In China (native in Xinjiang), "sands, saline soils, forests, shallow watersides; ca. 800 m"  (Flora of China online).  In New Zealand, "waste land, roadsides, railway ballast, dry pastures, riverbeds, gravel beach"  (Webb et al., 1988; p. 505).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Europe, northern Africa, Asia; exact native range obscure; naturalized in temperate regions (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 462, 466, 558)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 462, 466, 558) Voucher cited: Danton A(252bis)277

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	introduced	Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. (2011)
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	introduced invasive	National Herbarium of New South Wales (2011) "Common weed of waste and disturbed ground".
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced invasive	National Herbarium of New South Wales (2011) "Common weed of waste and disturbed ground".
Canada Province of British Columbia	Canada (British Columbia)	introduced	Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. (2011)
Canada Canada	Canada (country)	introduced	Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) Xinjiang
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011) Hokkaido
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 182)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 505)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Oregon)	introduced	Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	introduced	Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Washington)	introduced	Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. (2011)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Spergularia rubra is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Spergularia rubra as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Spergularia rubra may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 2011. Flora of North America North of Mexico (online edition).

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

National Herbarium of New South Wales. 2011. PlantNet: New South Wales Flora online. The Plant Information Network System of the Botanic Gardens Trust Version 2.0. Online resource.

U. S. Government. 2011. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).