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Sea milkwort
Lysimachia maritima
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Sea milkwort is a small, low coastal plant with fleshy bluish‑green leaves and tiny pale pink, speckled, bell‑shaped flowers. It is most often seen on seashores and salt marshes, sometimes growing in cracks and among stones. In some regions it can also occur on naturally salty ground inland.
Did you know?
- The pink “petals” are actually the flower’s outer leaves; this species has no true petals.
- It is often visited and pollinated by ants.
About the species
Identification
Low, spreading perennial (3–25 cm). Forms patches from creeping, branching underground stems. Stems carry thick, bluish‑green leaves that sit directly on the stem and may slightly clasp it; leaves are in pairs lower down, becoming spiral near the top; the lowest are brown and scale‑like. Tiny flowers sit one by one at the leaf bases: bell‑shaped, 3–6 mm, pale pink with dark speckles and white‑edged tips. Later a small round seed capsule forms. Fleshy leaves and solitary, speckled pink, bell‑like flowers set it apart from many shore plants with larger white starry flowers. Flowers in Finland in June–July.
Plant group
Herbaceous plants
Habitat
shore
Flowering
Jun–Jul
About the habitat
Coastal shore meadows, among stones and on gravel, and grassy strips in rock cracks; salt marshes. Also found on naturally salty soils inland. Common along the coast; scarce only at the head of the Bothnian Bay.
Sources
Photo: Matthew Morgan, CC BY 4.0 https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/6251823486
Text: Pinkka: Kasvitieteen retkeily Ahvenanmaalle - Nåtö ja Harskatan, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38678
Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Itämeri: kivikkorannat, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38678
Text: Pinkka (Luomus), CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38678
Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merirannikki
