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Procumbent Pearlwort

Procumbent Pearlwort

Sagina procumbens

Identify the Procumbent Pearlwort from a photo and log your finds with Florapass.

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How common: Common

Procumbent Pearlwort is a tiny, mat-forming plant that creeps along the ground. You often see it on paths, yards, road edges and even in cracks in paving. It is widespread in Europe and found in many other parts of the world.

Did you know?

  • The flowers often have no petals at all.
  • It tolerates heavy trampling and can grow from cracks between stones or asphalt.

About the species

Identification

Very low, forming loose mats about 3–8 cm long. Stems lie on the ground or rise a little and often root where they touch the soil. Leaves grow in pairs, very narrow and thread-like. Tiny single flowers on thin stalks; the stalk bends down in bud and again when the seed pod ripens. Each flower shows four small green leaf-like pieces; white petals are tiny or usually missing. The seed pod is small, egg-shaped and a bit longer than the green pieces. Similar pearlworts often show clear white petals; this one usually does not. Flowers in Finland from early summer to autumn (June–September).

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

yards and roadsides

Flowering

Jun–Sep

About the habitat

Open, dry to seasonally wet and often trampled places such as paths, yards, small roads, waste ground, meadows, rocky crevices and shores; it copes well on clay-rich soils. Occurs across Finland; rare in the northernmost Lapland and only occasional in the far northwest (Käsivarsi and Enontekiö).

Sources

Photo: Manfred Morgner (ka-em-zwei-ein), CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moos 5770.jpg

Text: Pinkka: Verso- ja leviäintunnistus - Kaikki leviäimet, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38088

Text: Pinkka: Verso- ja leviäintunnistus - Kaikki versot, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38088

Text: Pinkka: Laaja maatalouslajintuntemus 4 op - Koppisiemeniset, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38088

Text: Pinkka: Pieni maatalouslajintuntemus - Puuvartiset, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38088

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

See also