i6 
SPERGULA 
I. SPERGULA ARVENSIS. Corn Spurrey. Plates 14, 15 
Sagina spergula sive spurry belgarum et anglorum Lobel Adv. 357 (1570); 5 . spergula Johnson in Gerard 
Herball ed. 2, 1125 (1636); 6". spergula major 
Parkinson Theatr. Bot. 561 (1640); A /sine spergula 
dicta major C. Bauhin Pinax 251 (1671) ; Ray Syn. 
ed - 3 , 351 (1724). 
Spergula arvensis L. Sp. PI. 440 (1753) ! ; 
Smith FI. Brit. 503 (1800)!, inch S'. pentandra\ 
(non ah); Syme Eng. Bot. ii, 126 (1864); Rouy 
et Foucaud FI. France ii, 126 (1896). 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 731, as S. arvensis ; 
3821, as S. vulgaris ; Huter, Porta, et Rigo, 982, 
as S. arvensis ; Reichenbach, 64, as S. arvensis ; 
65, as S. vulgaris ; Todaro, 985, as S. vulgaris ; 
Welwitsch (FI. Lusit.), 812, as S. arvensis var. ?; 
Herb. FI. Ingric. i, 122, as S. arvensis. 
Annual. Shoot glandular or not. Stem 
erect or decumbent, branched or simple. 
Stipules broad. Leaves linear, grooved under- 
neath. Flowers up to 1 ’3 cm. in diameter ; 
April to October. Sepals ovate. Petals ovate, 
rather obtuse, as long as or a little longer 
than the sepals. Stamens 5 or 5 + 5. Capsule 
subglobose, a little longer than the calyx. 
Seeds subglobose, minutely tuberculate or 
with white papillae, narrowly bordered. 
An allied species, S. pentandra (L. Sp. PI. 440 
( 1 753) non Smith) was found in Ireland by Sherard 
(Dillenius in Ray Syn. ed. 3, 351 (1724)); and the 
specimen is preserved at Oxford (Druce and Vines 
Dill. Herb. 108 (1907)). The plant has not been found 
since in the British Isles, although it might be expected 
to occur in eastern or southern England. It is dis- 
tinguished from 5. arvensis by its non-grooved laminae, 
its lanceolate-acute petals, and its lenticular seeds sur- 
rounded with a white margin or wing. 
(a) S. arvensis var. sativa Mertens und 
Koch Deutschl. FI. iii, 360 (1831) ; Syme Eng. Bot. 
ii, 127 (1864); Rouy et Foucaud FI. France iii, 
296 (1896) ; 5 . arvensis Smith FI. Brit. 502 (1800) ! ; 
S. sativa Boenninghausen Prodr. FI. Mon. 135 
(1824); Arenaria arvensis Wallroth Sched. Crit. 
200 (1822). 
leones: — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 1536, as 5 . 
pentandra ; Reichenbach, Icon. Crit. t. 501, fig. 704, 
as S. arvensis. 
Shoot viscous. Flowers with a rather 
obnoxious odour. Stamens usually 1 o. Seeds 
minutely punctate, not papillate, with a dis- 
tinct blackish margin about a quarter as wide 
as the rest of the seed. 
Arable land throughout Great Britain, from 
the Channel Isles, Cornwall, and Kent, northwards 
to Zetland ; Ireland — co. Galway and co. Mayo. 
Europe (including Iceland), commoner in the 
north; Asia Minor (probably rare); North America 
(introduced from Europe). 
Map 8. 5. arvensis occurs throughout Great Britain, and in most of the Irish 
counties. .S’. arvensis var. sativa occurs in the counties which are shaded 
with horizontal lines, .S’. arvensis var. vulgaris in those with vertical lines, 
and both varieties in those shaded most darkly. S. arvensis var. nana is 
indigenous in the Channel Isles. The full distribution of the varieties in 
Ireland is unknown 
