Spergularia villosa
Encyclopedia
Spergularia villosa is a species of flowering plant in the pink family
known by the common name hairy sandspurry. It is native to southern South America, and it is known in the southwestern United States and Baja California
as an introduced species
and casual weed
. It grows in a wide variety of habitat types. It is a small perennial herb producing a sprawling stem up to 30 centimeters long with a woody base. It is coated in glandular hairs. The leaves are generally linear in shape and measure a few centimeters long. They are accompanied by dull white lance-shaped stipule
s. The flowers have hairy, glandular sepal
s and five oval whitish petals.
Caryophyllaceae
The Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactaceae and Polygonaceae...
known by the common name hairy sandspurry. It is native to southern South America, and it is known in the southwestern United States and Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
as an introduced species
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
and casual weed
Weed
A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More specifically, the term is often used to...
. It grows in a wide variety of habitat types. It is a small perennial herb producing a sprawling stem up to 30 centimeters long with a woody base. It is coated in glandular hairs. The leaves are generally linear in shape and measure a few centimeters long. They are accompanied by dull white lance-shaped stipule
Stipule
In botany, stipule is a term coined by Linnaeus which refers to outgrowths borne on either side of the base of a leafstalk...
s. The flowers have hairy, glandular sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s and five oval whitish petals.