Trailing Pearlwort

Plants annual, glabrous or glan-dular-pubescent. Stems ascending or decumbent, frequently purple tinged, few- to many-branched, filiform. Leaves: axillary fascicles absent; basal rosette quickly de-ciduous; proximal cauline leaves connate basally, not appearing inflated, blade frequently purple tinged, linear, 4-23 mm, not fleshy, base never ciliate, margins conspicuously hyaline basally, apex apiculate, glabrous, distal blades becoming subulate and shorter toward apex, 1-5 mm, apex apiculate, glabrous. Pedicels filiform, glabrous or glandular-pubescent. Flowers terminal or often axillary, 5-merous, rarely 4-merous and then apetalous; calyx base glabrous or glandular-pubescent, often sparsely so; sepals ovate to orbiculate, (1-)1.5-2(-3) mm, hyaline margins conspicuous, margins or apex frequently purple, apex acute to rounded, glabrous or glandular-pubescent at calyx base, remaining appressed to capsule; petals elliptic, (1-)1.5-2(-2.3) mm, slightly longer than sepals at anthesis, equaling or shorter than sepals during capsule development; stamens 5 or 10, occasionally 8. Capsules 2-3(-3.5) mm, longer than sepals, dehiscing to 2 capsule length or less. Seeds light tan to light brown, obliquely triangular with abaxial groove, (0.2-)0.3-1.4 mm, smooth or pebbled to strongly tuberculate, protrusions sometimes borne on delicate ridges, ridges forming reticulate pattern (50-80×).

Spergella decumbens Elliott, Sketch Bot. S. Carolina 1: 523. 1821

Sagina decumbens is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names trailing pearlwort and western pearlwort. It is native to several areas of North America, where it can be found in many types of habitat. It is a small annual herb producing a threadlike green or purplish stem growing erect or trailing, measuring up to about 16 centimeters long. The leaves are hairless, linear in shape, and one half to two centimeters long. The inflorescence is a solitary flower borne on a threadlike pedicel. The flower has usually five sepals and five tiny white petals. There are two subspecies which differ mainly in the microscopic appearance of the seeds.