Sagina subulata

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Sagina subulata
Sagina subulata a1.jpg
Plant in flower, Poland
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Caryophyllaceae
Genus: Sagina
Species:
S. subulata
Binomial name
Sagina subulata
Synonyms [1]
  • Alsine subulata(Sw.) E.H.L. Krause
  • Phaloe subulata(Sw.) Dumort.
  • Spergella subulata(Sw.) Rchb.
  • Spergula subulataSw.

Sagina subulata (syn. Sagina pilifera), the heath pearlwort, [2] Irish-moss, [3] awl-leaf pearlwort [4] or Scottish moss, is a species of flowering plant in the pink and carnation family Caryophyllaceae. It is native to Europe, from Iceland south to Spain, and east to southern Sweden and Romania. It occurs on dry sandy or gravelly soils. [5] [6] [7]

Contents

Description

It is commonly cultivated in walkways between paving stones Sagina subulata 001.JPG
It is commonly cultivated in walkways between paving stones

Heath pearlwort is a low-growing prostrate perennial plant forming a thick, dense mat with stems less than 10 cm long, and slender subulate (awl-shaped) leaves up to 1 cm long. The flowers are 4–5 mm in diameter, with five white petals the same length as the green sepals; they are produced singly on erect stems 2–4 cm long. The seeds are smooth, brown, triangular shaped, 0.4–0.5 mm, produced in a capsule 2.5–3 mm long. [7] [8] [9]

British Isles

Sagina subulata is native to temperate areas of Europe. In the British Isles it is primarily found in Scotland, the Lake District, Wales, the Southwest and South of England, and the coasts of western Ireland. This mat-forming perennial, easy to overlook when not in flower, is found in dry, open, sandy or gravelly places, trackways, heaths, dry banks and grassy slopes near the sea. In the Trotternish Mountains on Skye, it is found on rocky ledges growing with Koenigia islandica . On Mount Brandon in County Kerry, Ireland, it grows at up to 700 m (2,300 ft), and at even higher altitudes on Ben Lawers in Perthshire. [10]

Varieties

There are two varieties, Sagina subulata var. subulata with glandular-hairy sepals, and Sagina subulata var. glabrata Gillot with hairless sepals; the latter is often a lawn weed, and has been confused with the related Mediterranean species Sagina pilifera . [7] [11] The cultivar 'Aurea' (referred to as Scottish or Scotch Moss in the horticultural trade) is grown as a garden plant. [12]

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<i>Sagina nodosa</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Phlox subulata</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Sagina</i> Genus of flowering plants

Sagina is a genus of 20–30 species of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. These are flowering herbs native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere extending south to tropical mountain areas at high altitudes, reaching just south of the equator in Africa. They are small annual or perennial herbaceous plants, growing to 5–15 cm. The leaves are opposite, often in tight whorl-like clusters, simple linear, typically 5–20 mm long. The flowers are solitary or in small cymes, with four or five green sepals and an equal number of white petals; the petal size relative to the sepal size is useful in species identification. The fruit is a small capsule containing several seeds.

<i>Sagina pilifera</i> Species of flowering plant

Sagina pilifera is a species of Sagina, native to the Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Sardinia, where it grows in mountains at altitudes of 1,000–2,700 m. It is a prostrate herbaceous plant growing to 2–8 cm tall, with white flowers 1 cm in diameter.

<i>Zizia aurea</i> Species of flowering plant

Zizia aurea is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant of the carrot family Apiaceae. It is native to eastern Canada and the United States, from the eastern Great Plains to the Atlantic Coast. The genus is named for Johann Baptist Ziz, a German botanist. The common name is based on the similarity to alexanders, another member of the carrot family from coastal areas in Europe and Northern Africa.

<i>Sabulina rubella</i> Species of flowering plant

Sabulina rubella is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by several common names, including beautiful sandwort, mountain sandwort, Arctic sandwort, and boreal stitchwort. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout the northernmost Northern Hemisphere from the Arctic Circle on the Arctic tundra into the alpine climates of mountainous areas in temperate Eurasia and North America. It grows in rocky, moist, often barren habitat, including gravelly, sparsely vegetated slopes with little organic matter. It is a calciphile, growing in calcareous substrates such as soils rich in decomposed limestone.

<i>Potentilla norvegica</i> Species of flowering plant

Potentilla norvegica is a species of cinquefoil known by the common names rough cinquefoil, ternate-leaved cinquefoil, and Norwegian cinquefoil. It is native to Europe, Asia, and parts of North America, and it can be found elsewhere as an introduced species.

<i>Sagina apetala</i> Species of flowering plant

Sagina apetala is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names annual pearlwort and dwarf pearlwort. It is native to Europe and it is known elsewhere as an introduced species, including parts of North America. It grows in many types of disturbed habitat, such as cracks in the sidewalk. It is a petite annual herb producing a threadlike stem just a few centimeters long, spreading or growing erect. The plant is glandular and somewhat hairy. The leaves are linear in shape and not more than about a centimeter long. The inflorescence is a solitary flower borne on a threadlike pedicel. The flower has usually four sepals and generally no petals.

<i>Sagina maxima</i> Species of flowering plant

Sagina maxima is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names stickystem pearlwort and thick-stemmed pearlwort. It is native to the west coast of North America from Alaska to California, where it can be found in many types of sandy and rocky coastal habitat. It is a small, fleshy perennial herb growing in a clump of linear leaves and thick stems. The fleshy, pointed leaves are 1 or 2 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a solitary flower with five sepals and five small white petals. There are two subspecies which differ mainly in the arrangement of hairs on the stem.

<i>Sagina procumbens</i> Species of flowering plant

Sagina procumbens is a species of flowering plant. in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names procumbent pearlwort, birdeye pearlwort and matted pearlwort. It can be found throughout the Northern Hemisphere and parts of South America. It is a common weed of many environments. It can be found in wild and disturbed habitat, especially moist areas. It can sometimes be seen growing in lawns or in cracks in pavements. This is a perennial herb forming clumps or mats of hairless green herbage, sometimes vaguely resembling a patch of moss. The leaves are linear and up to 1 or 2 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a solitary flower with four or five sepals and four or five small white petals, but the petals are sometimes absent.

<i>Sagina saginoides</i> Species of flowering plant

Sagina saginoides is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names arctic pearlwort or alpine pearlwort. It has a circumboreal distribution; it can be found throughout the northern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. It grows in subalpine and alpine climates and other mountainous habitat at lower elevations. This is a small perennial herb producing a slender to threadlike stem just a few centimetres long, growing decumbent or erect. It is sometimes clumpy in form. The leaves are linear in shape and about 1 to 2 centimetres in length. The inflorescence is a solitary flower with five sepals and five small white petals.

<i>Silene gallica</i> Species of flowering plant

Silene gallica is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by several common names, including common catchfly, small-flowered catchfly, and windmill pink. It is native to Eurasia and North Africa, but it can be found throughout much of the temperate world as a common roadside weed.

<i>Hypericum humifusum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum humifusum is a prostrate flowering plant in the St. John's wort family Hypericaceae commonly known as trailing St John's-wort. It is found in Western Europe.

<i>Oreojuncus trifidus</i> Species of rush

Oreojuncus trifidus is a species of rush known by the common names highland rush and three-leaved rush. It is native to the Northern Hemisphere, where it is an arctic/montane species with an amphi-atlantic distribution.

<i>Sagittaria subulata</i> Species of flowering plant

Sagittaria subulata, the awl-leaf arrowhead, narrow-leaved arrowhead or dwarf sagittaria, is an aquatic plant species.

<i>Trichophorum cespitosum</i> Species of flowering plant in the sedge family Cyperaceae

Trichophorum cespitosum, commonly known as deergrass or tufted bulrush, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family. It was originally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as Scirpus cespitosus, but was transferred to the genus Trichophorum by the Swedish botanist Carl Johan Hartman in 1849, becoming Trichophorum cespitosum.

<i>Hypericum canadense</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum canadense, known as Canadian St. Johns-wort, lesser St. John's wort, and lesser Canadian St. Johnswort, is a flowering plant in the genus Hypericum. It is a yellow-flowering annual or perennial herb native to North America and introduced to Ireland and The Netherlands. The specific epithet canadense means "Canadian".

<i>Hypericum denticulatum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum denticulatum, the coppery St. John's Wort, is a perennial herb in the flowering plant family Hypericaceae. It is native to the Eastern United States. The species has two varieties, H. denticulatum var. recognitum and H. denticulatum var. acutifolium. The herb has a diploid number of 24 or 48.

References

  1. "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species" . Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  2. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  3. "Sagina subulata". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  4. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Sagina". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  5. Flora Europaea: Sagina subulata
  6. Den virtuella floran: Sagina subulata (in Swedish, with maps)
  7. 1 2 3 Flora of NW Europe: Sagina subulata
  8. Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. ISBN   0-340-40170-2
  9. Heukel's Flora van Nederland
  10. "Sagina subulata". Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  11. Flora of Northern Ireland: Sagina subulata
  12. Horticopia: Sagina subulata 'Aurea' Archived 16 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine

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