Spergularia atrosperma

Black seed sand-spurrey

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: annual · Native

Black seed sand-spurrey is a delicate California native annual found in the Great Valley, Peninsular Ranges, and Mojave Desert regions in alkaline areas, mud flats, and sandy streambeds at elevations below 1,500 meters. Flowering during summer, this plant produces white to rosy flowers with delicate petals in simple or compound inflorescences. Growing with extremely slender stems less than one millimeter in diameter, it forms a fragile, low-growing plant. Its fleshy leaves have small, inconspicuous white to tan stipules with acute tips. The fruit produces distinctive shiny black seeds with a worm-like surface texture, each approximately 0.6 to 0.8 millimeters long.

Habitat: Uncommon. Alkaline areas, mud flats, streambeds, sandy areas

Bloom period: Summer

Elevation: < 1500 m

Bioregions: GV, PR, MP

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.