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Spergula arvensis

Corn spurry

Habitus (CC0) AnRo0002

Short Description

The corn spurry can grow up to 50 centimetres high.

The leaves are very narrow, almost needle-shaped. They have a longitudinal furrow on the underside. They grow star-shaped around the stem (whorls).

The stem is erect and has scattered glandular hairs.

The relatively small flowers have five white petals. They are in loose inflorescences at the end of the stem.

The fruits are small capsules.

Features

Corn spurry

Spergula arvensis

  • small white flowers

  • needle-shaped leaves

Blätter (CC0) AnRo0002

In the city

The corn spurry grows in fields, rubble tips, wastelands and along roadsides. It prefers open sites and nutrient-rich, loose and calcareous soils. It indicates soil acidification.

It is relatively insensitive to weedkillers.

Fun Facts

  • The flowering period is from June to October.

  • The flowers only open in sunshine. In bad weather they pollinate themselves.

  • The seeds are said to remain germinable for over 1000 years.

  • It is an annual plant, i.e. it only flowers for one summer and dies after the seeds have ripened.

  • Endangerment level Germany: not endangered

  • Varieties of the plant were grown as cattle feed until the 1960s. They were also used for fattening pigs.

Blüten (CC BY-SA 3.0) Rasbak

Sources

Habitus, AnRo0002, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20150611Spergula_arvensis1.jpg

Blätter, AnRo0002, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20150610Spergula_arvensis4.jpg

Blüten, Rasbak, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spergula_arvensis,_Gewone_spurrie_bloem_(1).jpg

Spohn, M., Golte-Bechtle, M. & Spohn, R. (2015) Was blüht denn da? Stuttgart: Franckh Kosmos Verlag.

Schauer, T., Caspari, C. & Caspari, S. (2015) Der illustrierte BLV-Pflanzenführer für unterwegs. 1150 Blumen, Gräser, Bäume und Sträucher, München: BLV.

Kammer, P. M. (2016) Pflanzen einfach bestimmen. Schritt für Schritt einheimische Arten kennenlernen, Bern: Haupt Verlag.

Seitz, B., Ristow, M., Meißner, J., Machatzi, B. & Sukopp, H. (2018) Rote Liste und Gesamtartenliste der etablierten Farn- und Blütenpflanzen von Berlin. : Der Landesbeauftragte für Naturschutz und Landschaftspflege / Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Klima und Verkehr (eds.) Rote Listen der gefährdeten Pflanzen, Pilze und Tiere von Berlin, URL: https://www.berlin.de/sen/uvk/natur-und-gruen/naturschutz/artenschutz/artenlisten-rote-listen/farn-und-bluetenpflanzen/ (Accessed: 26.03.2021).

Bundesamt für Naturschutz (n.d.) Artensteckbriefe, URL: http://floraweb.de/pflanzenarten/artenhome.xsql?suchnr=5729& (Accessed: 10.09.2018).

Page „Acker-Spark“. : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last revision: 24.08.2017, 18:51 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Acker-Spark&oldid=168440218 (Accessed: 10.09.2018).