Arenaria serpyllifolia - Thyme-leaved Sandwort

Family: Caryophyllaceae (Pink) ^[E-flora]

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"Arenaria serpyllifolia is a ANNUAL/BIENNIAL growing to 0.3 m (1ft). It is in flower from Jun to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects, self.The plant is self-fertile.
Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil." ^[PFAF]

Habitat/Range: Dry roadsides and disturbed areas in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; common in S BC; introduced from Eurasia. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}

Status: Exotic ^[E-flora]

Edible Uses

• Plant
  • "The entire plant is used as a pot-herb[177]." ^[PFAF]
    

Medicinal Uses
"The plant is antitussive, depurative, diuretic and febrifuge[147, 218]. A decoction of the leaves is used in the treatment of dysentery[218]. It is also used in the treatment of bladder complaints, calculus troubles and acute and chronic cystitis[240]." ^[PFAF]

Cultivation
"This species is apparently disliked by rabbits since it is often abundant round their burrows[17]." ^[PFAF]

Propagation
"Seed - sow spring in situ." ^[PFAF]

Synonyms

• Arenaria leptoclados (Rchb.) Guss.
  
• Arenaria serpyllifolia subsp. leptoclados (Rchb.) Nyman
  
• Arenaria serpyllifolia subsp. serpyllifolia
  
• Arenaria serpyllifolia var. tenuior Mert. & W.D.J. Koch ^[E-flora]

References

• [E-flora] http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Arenaria%20serpyllifolia&redblue=Both&lifeform=7] [Accessed: March 29, 2020]
• [PFAF] http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Arenaria+serpyllifolia, Accessed April 1, 2015

Images

• [1] Fornax, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
• [2] Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
• [3] Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Arenaria Sp.

"Annual, perennial herb, erect to mat-forming, taprooted. Leaf: not congested at base of flowering stems; blades narrowly lanceolate to ovate; veins 1–5. Inflorescence: terminal or axillary; flowers 1–many; peduncles, pedicels 1–50 mm. Flower: sepals 5, ± free, 1.5–4 mm, ± lanceolate to widely ovate, glabrous to glandular-hairy; petals 0 or 5, 1.5–6 mm, entire; stamens 10; styles 3, 0.5–2 mm. Fruit: capsule, ovoid to urn-shaped; teeth 6, ascending to recurved. Seed: 8–20, gray- or dark brown.
210 species: northern temperate, especially mountains, South America, Eurasia. (Latin: sand, a common habitat) [Hartman, Rabeler, & Utech 2005 FNANM 5:51–56] Based in part on molecular evidence, most taxa moved to Eremogone. Unabridged references: [McNeill 1980 Rhodora 82:495–502; Hartman, Rabeler, & Utech 2005 FNANM 5:51–56] Unabridged note: Based in part on molecular evidence, taxa in 2 of McNeill's subgenera here included in Eremogone." ^[Jepson]

Local Species;

1. Arenaria serpyllifolia - thyme-leaved sandwort ^[E-flora]

Taxonomic key to Arenaria

• 1. Plants annuals, erect to ascending, not mat-forming or tufted ...... A. serpyllifolia
• 1. Plants perennials, tufted or mat-forming.
• 2. Stems 2-4 cm tall; flowers solitary ........ A. longipedunculata
• 2. Stems 5-20 cm tall; flowers several in a branching inflorescence ............. A. capillaris ^[E-flora]

References

• [Jepson] Ronald L. Hartman & Richard K. Rabeler, 2012. Arenaria, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_IJM.pl?tid=10427, accessed on Mar 15 2014