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Corn Spurrey

Corn Spurrey

Spergula arvensis

Identify the Corn Spurrey from a photo and log your finds with Florapass.

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How common: Common

Alien species

Corn Spurrey is a small, thread‑leaved annual of disturbed ground. It forms loose tufts 10–40 cm tall with many thin stems and tiny white, star‑shaped flowers. Native across much of Europe and Asia, it has spread with farming to other continents and often grows on sandy, acidic soils.

Did you know?

  • Often slightly sticky, so sand and grit cling to its stems and leaves.
  • Spread by farming, it now grows on several continents as a field and garden weed.

About the species

Identification

Upright or rising annual, usually many‑stemmed from the base, 10–40 cm tall. Stems green, smooth or slightly sticky. Leaves very narrow, thread‑like, in opposite pairs but appearing in little starry tufts because of short side shoots at each joint. Flowers in a many‑branched spray; white petals (about 4–5 mm) a little longer than the five green outer leaves beneath. Fruit a small capsule that splits into five; seeds about 1 mm, black with a pale rim. Similar to other spurreys; the starry tufts of thread‑thin leaves help identify it. Flowers in Finland from June to September.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

yards and roadsides, shore

Flowering

Jun–Sep

About the habitat

Open, disturbed ground: crop fields and vegetable plots, gardens, roadsides, railways, harbours, waste ground and shores; often on sandy, acidic, rather moist, low‑nutrient soils. Common across Finland except in northernmost Lapland, where it is scarce.

Sources

Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spergula arvensis kz04.jpg

Text: Pinkka: Verso- ja leviäintunnistus - Kaikki leviäimet, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38097

Text: Pinkka: Verso- ja leviäintunnistus - Kaikki versot, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38097

Text: Pinkka: Laaja maatalouslajintuntemus 4 op - Koppisiemeniset, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38097

Text: Pinkka (Luomus), CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38097

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peltohatikka

See also