Spergularia macrotheca var. macrotheca

Sand spurrey

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Sand spurrey is a California native perennial found in northern and central coastal regions including the Channel Islands in salt flats, marshes, coastal dunes, and alkaline fields at elevations below 250 meters. Flowering from spring to fall, this plant produces delicate pink to rosy or blue flowers with petals nestled in calyx lobes 5 to 7 millimeters long. Growing with slender stems 5 to 35 centimeters tall, it spreads across low-lying coastal landscapes with a compact, ground-hugging form. Its leaves are fine and narrow, typical of plants adapted to harsh coastal and salt-influenced environments. The tiny seeds, measuring 0.6 to 0.8 millimeters, are produced in fruit slightly larger than the calyx, allowing for efficient dispersal in windy coastal habitats.

Habitat: Salt flats, marshes, dunes, rocky outcrops, sandy or rocky coastal bluffs, gravelly ridges, alkaline fields

Bloom period: Spring-fall

Elevation: < 250 m

Bioregions: NCo, CCo, SCo, ChI

California counties: Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, San Luis Obispo, Contra Costa, Santa Barbara, Colusa, Fresno, Humboldt, Mendocino, Napa, Riverside, San Bernardino, Solano, Yolo, Alameda, Del Norte, Marin, San Francisco, Monterey, San Diego, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma

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