Corn spurry
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. January 2018.
Scientific name: Spergula arvensis L.
Common name(s): corn spurry, tickwort, starwort, devil’s-guts, sandweed, pickpurse, yarr, pine-cheat, poverty-weed, cow-quake
Links: USDA PLANTS Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- flowering, early July
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- leaves
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- note hairs on stems and leaves
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- flowerbuds
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- seeds
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- flowers, late July
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- growth habit
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- senescing plants, late July
Description:
– annual
-leaves are
- simple
- opposite
- whorled
-hermaphroditic species
-pollinated by flies
Habitat:
-disturbed habitats
-meadows
-fields
-poor sandy soils
-part sun-full sun
Natural History:
-introduced to Michigan in 1888
-seeds contain saponins
- relatively harmless toxin
- not to be eaten in large quantities
Sources:
Go Botany. “Spergula Arvensis L.” Spergula Arvensis (Corn Spurry): Go Botany, 2021, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/spergula/arvensis/.
Plants For a Future. “Spergula Arvensis – L.” Spergula Arvensis Corn Spurrey PFAF Plant Database, 2020, pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Spergula+arvensis.