Plant ID (1 Viewer)

Can anyone help me identify this "weed of cultivation" that grows in my garden? The flowers are tiny, only about 3mm across.

Thanks,

yaffle

My first thought would be Chickweed (Stellaria media ). Found a link with a few photos on it...is this the plant?

http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/plants_and_algae/Stellaria_media/more_still_images.html

GILL

Gill,

Thanks for the suggestion, I had also at first thought that it was a member of the chickweed family, but the petals of this plant are not divided and the sepals are much longer than the petals.

I have just done some more research and am coming to the conclusion that it could well be Thyme-leaved Sandwort (Arenaria serpyllifolia) or just possibly Lesser Thyme-leaved Sandwort (Arenaria leptoclados). These are not listed in many books but a Google image search on the latin gives some good pics.

Yaffle

Yaffle said:

Gill,

Thanks for the suggestion, I had also at first thought that it was a member of the chickweed family, but the petals of this plant are not divided and the sepals are much longer than the petals.

I have just done some more research and am coming to the conclusion that it could well be Thyme-leaved Sandwort (Arenaria serpyllifolia) or just possibly Lesser Thyme-leaved Sandwort (Arenaria leptoclados). These are not listed in many books but a Google image search on the latin gives some good pics.

Yaffle

Click to expand...

Yes, this is definitely Arenaria serpyllifolia group. The two you mention are generally considered to be subspecies and the only reliable distinction is the shape of the fruiting capsule. However, the flower size and rather diffuse growth as shown in the photograph do suggest ssp. leptoclados.

Subsp. serpyllifolia is common throughout Britain, whereas ssp. leptoclados is generally southern and more common on chalky soils and walls with old mortar.

There is, incidentally, a third subspecies, ssp. lloydii, which has larger seeds and a condensed inflorescence. It is coastal and in my area is characteristic of sand/shingle mixtures right at the top of the beach.
Picture at:
http://www-biol.paisley.ac.uk/research/Asilverside/Wigtown/photo1/Arenaria_lloydii.html

Silver,

Thanks for the confirmation - in fact I live on a chalk ridge so it could well be leptoclados.

Yaffle