Corn Spurrey

Spergula arvensis

Please keep in mind that it is illegal to uproot a plant without the landowner's consent and care should be taken at all times not to damage wild plants. Wild plants should never be picked for pleasure and some plants are protected by law.
For more information please download the BSBI Code of Conduct PDF document.

Plant Data

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Order:

Caryophyllales

Family:

Caryophyllaceae (Pink)

Also in this family:

Annual Pearlwort, Bladder Campion, Bog Stitchwort, Bouncing Bett, Clove Pink, Common Chickweed, Common Corn-cockle, Common Mouse-ear, Common Soapwort, Greater Chickweed, Greater Stitchwort, Knotted Pearlwort, Lesser Sea-spurrey, Lesser Stitchwort, Procumbent Pearlwort, Ragged Robin, Red Campion, Rock Sea-spurrey, Sea Campion, Sea Sandwort, Snow-in-summer, Spring Sandwort, Sticky Mouse-ear, Three-nerved Sandwort, Thyme-leaved Sandwort, White Campion

Type:

Flower

Life Cycle:

Annual

Maximum Size:

40 centimetres tall

Habitats:

Farmland, gardens, grassland, meadows, riverbanks, roadsides, rocks, wasteland.

Flower:

White, 5 petals

5 tiny white unnotched petals, 5 styles. Flowers in leafless clusters with stems forked.

Fruit:

Green, smooth, egg-shaped and long capsules. The seeds are blackish and glossy.

Leaves:

The whorled leaves are thread-like, stalkless and furrowed beneath. They are greyish in colour. The stipules fall off early on in the season.

Aroma:

Flowers are fragrant.

Other Names:

Beggarweed, Bottlebrush, Corn Spurry, Cowquake, Devil's Gut, Dodder, Farmer's Ruin, Field Spurrey, Franke, Fraud Flax, Granyagh, Lousy Grass, Make-beo-oar, Mountain Flax, Pick-pocket, Pickpurse, Pine Chest, Poverty Weed, Sandweed, Starwort, Stickwort, Surrey, Toadflax, Yarr, Yarrel.

Frequency (UK):

Common

Distribution Map

Reproduced by kind permission of the BSBI.

Click to open an Interactive Map