Azores sea spurrey
Spergularia azorica
Family · Caryophyllaceae · Harmless
The small fleshy plant with white or pale pink flowers living on lava flows and coastal flats in the Azores, in one of the archipelago's harshest habitats.
Dunes and sand · Walls and rocks
Also known asAzorean spurrey
How to tell it
A small prostrate or ascending plant with narrow, cylindrical, fleshy opposite leaves, with silvery membranous stipules at the base, the genus's mark. Five-petalled white or pale pink flowers, a few millimetres across. It grows on sea-beaten volcanic rock. Range: endemic to the Azores.
What it is confused with
No dangerous lookalikes known in the Iberian Peninsula.
What it is for
None. It is a protected species restricted to a few islands, and trampling on the coastal flats and shore trails is one of the real threats it faces.
The law says
Protected under the Habitats Directive. Do not pick it and do not leave the trails on the coastal flats.