ARENARIA L. - SANDWORT
Scientific Description:
Annual or perennial herbs or rarely spiny subshrubs, often caespitose or mat-forming. Leaves exstipulate, suborbicular to linear or setaceous. Inflorescence terminal or occasionally also axillary, composed of (1−)3−50−flowered cymes or cymose panicles or clusters. Sepals 5, free, herbaceous, scarious or coriaceous, with a single mid-rib or with the mid-rib more prominent than the lateral veins, rarely ± equally 3-veined. Petals 5, white, entire or rarely subemarginate. Stamens 10, the outer 5 with obsolete, single or bipartite basal glands. Styles 3. Capsule opening by 6 teeth or occasionally 6 valves. Seeds exstrophiolate, black, rarely reddish.
Reference:
McNeill J (1967). Arenaria L., In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2: 17.
Public Description:
Arenaria is naturally distributed in Asia, Europe and Northwest Africa. There are approximately 272 species in the world and 27 species (39 taxa) in Türkiye. The members of this genus, which consists of annual, perennial or rarely spiny plants, have white flowers. The word "Arenaria", the Latin name of the plant, means "sand-loving", which describes the living environment preferred by these plants.
References:
Anonymous 1 (2015). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arenaria_(plant), Accessed date: 29.12.2015.
Anonymous 2 (2015). http://www.theplantlist.org/1.1/browse/A/Caryophyllaceae/Arenaria/, Accessed date: 29.12.2015.
Dinç M (2012). Arenaria L. In: Güner, A., Aslan, S., Ekim, T., Vural, M. & Babaç, M.T. (eds.), Türkiye Bitkileri Listesi (Damarlı Bitkiler). Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi ve Flora Araştırmaları Derneği Yayını. İstanbul, pp. 326–328.
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