Caryophyllaceae (Pink Family) The Caryophyllaceae include all the cultivated carnations, pinks, Sweet William and Baby's-Breath we are so familiar with from the garden and flower shop. The family is large and wide-ranging, and many of its members have turned up as invasive alien problems in rural areas near towns. It is also a family of attractive and hardy native wildflowers, including the Indian Pink, the Catchflies and Sand--spurreys. On Montara Mountain, Caryophyllaceae members include: Cerastium arvense (Field Chckweed) Silene scouleri grandis (Scouler's Large-flowered Campion) Spergularia macrotheca (Large-flowered Sand-spurrey) Spergularia ruba (Ruby Sand-spurrey)

Spergularia macrotheca Large-flowered Sand-spurrey Caryophyllaceae (Pink Family) Flowers: 5 distinct separate petals, pink, small (4 - 7 mm). Obvious, pointed bracts. Yellow sepals and pistil. Blooms: All year round. Leaves: Dark green, fleshy, linear leaves covered with numerous long gray glandular hairs. Fruit/Seeds: Small, black, in hair-covered pods below blooms. Location: Sandy blufftops and cliffs above ocean. Status: Native - Common. Further description & Comment: Sprawling stems, 4 - 20 inches.	Spergularia macrotheca 600x450 JPEG - 36K
Image below shows that the stems and sepals are also covered with gray hairs. This plant colony was found on Gray Whale Cove promontory, west of Highway 1.	Image below includes a 52mm lens cap (approx. 2" in diameter) for size comparison.
600x450 JPEG - 56K

Spergularia rubra Ruby Sand-spurrey Caryophyllaceae (Pink Family) Flowers: 5 distinct very small (2 -5 mm) petals; pink. Obvious, pointed bracts. Yellow sepals and pistil. Pedicle (flower stalk) hairy, although the stems of the plant are not. Blooms: All year round. Leaves: Tiny, linear leaves in dense whorls with large papery bracts. Fruit/Seeds: Small, black, in pods below blooms. Location: In and along trails, roads, disturbed areas. Status: Alien - Invasive.

Spergularia rubra 600x450 JPEG - 52K

Further description & Comment: Sprawling stems, 2 - 15 inches, in clumps in open areas. S. rubra is becoming common throughout Montara Mountain, as it travels along trails and roads. It is quite hardy, surviving well in the center of well traveled paths. It is differentiated from S. macrotheca by its smaller flowers, papery bracts amongst the leaves, non-fleshy leaves and non-glandular stems. <-- 450x600 JPEG - 52K

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