Description
The genus Spergularia is a group with difficult taxonomy, especially in regard to early records (Rossbach 1940). Early (pre-1848) Chesapeake records of Spergularia rubra (='Arenaria rubra') probably refer to this species, as do early records of S. canadensis (='A. canadensis', which was once synonymized with S. salina) .
Spergularia salina seeds vary in size and the presence or absence of a feathery 'wing' around the seed. Rossbach (1940) lists records for plants with winged, bare, and partly winged seeds separately, but polymorphism of seeds exists within populations and even within individual plants (Telenius and Torstensson 1989).
Potentially Misidentified Species - Spergularia rubra (Sand-Spurrey) is an introduced, primarily upland plant, but with some saltmarsh reports (Hill 1986). Spergularia media(Media Sand-Spurrey; Lesser Sand-Spurrey) is introduced, and is known from the shore of Long Island and interior saline areas of NY and westward. Spergularia canadensis (Canada Sand-Spurrey) is native and north of our range (Rossbach 1940).
Synonymy - The first seven synonyms are recent and have been used since 1900 (Kartesz 1994). These are followed by Gronovius', Linnaeus', and other 18th and 19th century names (Rossbach 1940). Many of Rossbach's synonyms have been omitted.
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plantae | Magnoliophyta | Magnoliopsida | Caryophylalles | Caryophyllaceae | Spergularia |
Synonyms
Invasion History
Chesapeake Bay Status
| First Record | Population | Range | Introduction | Residency | Source Region | Native Region | Vectors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1739 | Established | Stable | Cryptogenic | Regular Resident | Europe | Eurasia | Shipping(Dry Ballast) |
History of Spread
The status of Spergularia salina (Saltmarsh SandSspurrey) in North America is uncertain. It is now cosmopolitan in distribution, at least in temperate areas. Fernald (1950) considered it native to both North America and Eurasia, but Rossbach (1940) gave its New World range as 'North America and South America (where it is probably introduced)' and Gleason and Cronquist (1991) list it as 'Native of Eurasia; probably only introduced in America'. If so, it was introduced very early. The first North American record is an herbarium specimen collected by John Clayton in VA, and cited by Linnaeus in the first (1753) edition of the 'Species Plantarum' (Gronovius 1739; Reveal 1983; Rossbach 1940). Gray (1848) lists it as 'on the sea-coast; common'. By 1900, it ranged from Quebec to FL (Robinson and Fernald 1908; Rossbach 1940). On the Pacific Coast, specimens were collected from CA and British Columbia as early as 1875 and 1889, respectively (Rossbach 1940). It is spreading inland in England and North America (Ontario, MI, NY, OH) facilitated by the use of salt for de-icing roads, and has colonized interior marshes in OH and elsewhere (Cusick 1983; Scott and Davidson 1985).
Aikin's 1837 record of 'Arenaria canadensis... Brackish meadows. Probably synonymous with A. rubra Linn.' from Baltimore, probably refers to S. salina, as did a similar record of Brereton (1831) for Washington D.C. ('Arenaria rubra syn. with A. canadensis'). Shreve et al. (1910) describe it as 'frequent' in 'salt and brackish marshes and in cultivated ground subject to tidal overflow' where 'the proportion of salt is about that of the open sea'. Rossbach (1940) lists Chesapeake specimens from Chesapeake Beach, Calvert County MD (1905); from the York River, Williamsburg VA (1921; Erlanson 1924) and from salt marshes at Wachapreague VA (1934). Brown and Brown (1984) consider it 'frequent' in MD. In VA and MD, it is found primarily in mid- to lower Bay regions, from North Point State Park, north of Baltimore, down the Bay, and along the lower reaches of tributaries (Fofonoff, unpublished observations; Harvill et al. 1992; Sipple 1978).
History References - Aikin 1837; Brereton 1830; Brown and Brown 1984; Erlanson 1924; Robinson and Fernald 1908; Fernald 1950; Gleason 1963; Gleason and Cronquist 1991; Gray 1848; Gronovius 1739; Harvill et al. 1992; Reveal 1983; Rossbach 1940; Shreve et al. 1910; Sipple 1978
Invasion Comments
Vector(s) of Introduction- This plant has been reported from dry ballast, inMobile AL (1883) and Portland OR (1902) (Rossbach 1940), but was not found on Philadelphia, New York, or Boston ballast plant lists.
Ecology
Environmental Tolerances
| For Survival | For Reproduction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Maximum | Minimum | Maximum | |
| Temperature (ºC) | ||||
| Salinity (‰) | 0.0 | 35.0 | 0.0 | 32.0 |
| Oxygen | ||||
| pH | ||||
| Salinity Range | meso-eu |
Age and Growth
| Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Typical Adult Size (mm) | 200.0 | 200.0 |
| Maximum Adult Size (mm) | 350.0 | 350.0 |
| Maximum Longevity (yrs) | ||
| Typical Longevity (yrs | 0.5 | 0.5 |
Reproduction
| Start | Peak | End | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive Season | |||
| Typical Number of Young Per Reproductive Event |
|||
| Sexuality Mode(s) | |||
| Mode(s) of Asexual Reproduction |
|||
| Fertilization Type(s) | |||
| More than One Reproduction Event per Year |
|||
| Reproductive Startegy | |||
| Egg/Seed Form |
Impacts
Economic Impacts in Chesapeake Bay
Spergularia salina (Saltmarsh Sand-Spurrey) probably has no economic impacts in Chesapeake Bay.
Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay
Spergularia salina (Saltmarsh Sand-Spurrey) probably has no economic impacts in North America. It may be grazed by livestock in coastal regions (Torstensson 1987).
Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species
Spergularia salina (Satlmarsh Sand-Spurrey) is a potential competitor - with native marsh and beach species, but this is not documented. It is grazed by cattle in Sweden (Torstensson 1987) so, it probably is a food source for mammals. The seeds are probably eaten by birds and mice, but we have no mention of this as a source of mortality or dispersal .
References - Torstensson 1987
Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species
Spergularia salina (Satlmarsh Sand-Spurrey) is a possible competitor with other cryptogenic and introduced plants of salt marshes and shorelines.
References
Aikin, W. E. A. (1837) Catalogue of phenogamous plants and ferns, native or naturalized, growing in the vicinity of Baltimore, Maryland., Transactions of the Maryland Academy of Sciences and Literature 1: 55-91Brereton, J. A. (1830) Prodromus of the Flora Columbiana, , Washington, D.C.. Pp.
Brown, Melvin L.; Brown, Russell G. (1984) Herbaceous Plants of Maryland, , College Park. Pp.
Callaway, Ragnan M.; Jones, Scott; Ferren, Wayne R. Jr.; Parikh, Anuja (1990) Ecology of a Mediterranean-climate estuarine wetland at Carpinteria, California: plant distributions and soil salinity in the upper marsh, Canadian Journal of Botany 68: 1139-1146
Erlanson, Eileen (1924) The flora of the Peninsula of Virginia, Papers of the Michigan Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters 4: 115-182
Fernald, Merritt L. (1950) Gray's Manual of Botany, In: (Eds.) . , New York. Pp.
Gleason, Henry A. (1963) The new Britton and Brown illustrated flora of the northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, In: (Eds.) . , New York. Pp.
Gleason, Henry A.; Cronquist, Arthur (1991) Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, In: (Eds.) . , Bronx, New York. Pp.
Gray, Asa (1848) A manual of botany of the northern United States., In: (Eds.) . , Boston. Pp.
Gronovius, Johannes Fredericius (1739) Flora Virginica exhibens plantas quas V. C. Johannes Clayton in Virginia observavit atque collegit., , London. Pp.
Harvill, A. M.; Bradley, Ted R.; Stevens, Charles E.; Wieboldt, Thomas F.; Ware, Donna M. E.; Ogle, Douglas W.; Ramsey, Gwynn W.; Fleming, Gary P. (1992) Atlas of the Virginia Flora, , Burkeville, VA. Pp.
Hill, Steven R. (1986) An annotated checklist of the vascular flora of Assateague Island (Maryland and Virginia), Castanea 51: 265-305
Kartesz, John T. (1994) A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland., In: (Eds.) . , Portland OR. Pp.
Klotz, Larry H. (1986) The vascular flora of Wallops Island and Wallops mainland, Virginia, Castanea 51: 306-326
Okusanya, Olubkanla T.; Ungar, Irwin A. (1984) The growth and mineral composition of three species of Spergularia as affected by salinity and nutrients at high salinity, American Journal of Botany 71: 439-447
Resource Management Inc. (1993) National list of plant species that occur in wetlands., , Minneapolis.. Pp.
Reveal, James L. (1983) Significance of pre-1753 botanical explorations in temperate North America on Linnaeus' first edition of Species Plantarum, Phytologia 53: 1-96
Robinson, Benjamin Lincoln; Fernald, Merrit L. (1908) Gray's New Manual of Botany., , New York. Pp.
Rossbach, Ruth B. (1940) Spergularia in North and South America, Rhodora 42: 57-83, 105-143, 203-
Scott, N. E.; Davison, A. W. (1985) The distribution and ecology of coastal species on roadsides, Vegetatio 62: 433-440
Shreve, Forrest M.; Chrysler, M. A.; Blodgett, Frederck H.; Besley, F. W. (1910) The Plant Life of Maryland, , Baltmore. Pp.
Sipple, William S. (1978) An atlas of vascular plant distribution species for tidewater Maryland, , Annapolis, Maryland. Pp.
Telenius, Anders; Torstensson, Peter (1989) The seed dimorphism of Spergularia marina in relation to dispersal by wind and water, Oecologia 80: 206-210
Torstensson, Peter (1987) The demography of the annual halophyte Spergularia marina on a Baltic seashore meadow, Vegetatio 68: 152-168
Ungar, Irwin T. (1988) Effects of the parental environment on the temperature requirements and salinity tolerance of Spergularia marina seeds, Botanical Gazette 149: 432-436
Wass, Melvin L. (1972) A checklist of the biota of lower Chesapeake Bay, Special Scientific Report, Virginia Institute of Marine Science 65: 1-290