Irish Wildflowers - Spring Sandwort

Photo above: P. Slavin, the Burren

Spring Sandwort
Minuartia verna
Gaineamhlus earraigh
Family: Caryophyllaceae

Flowering time: May-September. Perennial. Native.

Clusters of 2-7 white flowers with purple anthers. Un-notched petals longer than 3-veined sepals. 3 styles. Dark green linear leaves are pointed, keeled, 3-veined. more/less sticky-hairy. Loosely carpeting or tufted. Height: To 15cm.

Found on open, base-rich ground. Limestone pavements, short grassland, screes. Co.Clare and on basalt at scattered locations in N Ireland.

Spring Sandwort, the Burren, April 2009

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