Caryophyllaceae FAMILY

Arenaria serpyllifolia

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Botanical Description

Arenaria serpyllifolia is an annual, sometimes biennial, plant growing 3 - 40cm or more tall from a taproot. The main stem usually branches freely, mainly near the base, to produce up to 100 erect to ascending or sprawling stems[ 266 Title Flora of China Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ Publisher Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. Year 1994 ISBN Description An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available. ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and a medicine. The plant has spread, mainly through human activity, and has become a weed in many parts of the globe.

Habitat & Origin

Origintemperate

Native RangeEurasia - the Atlantic coast to Western Siberia; central Asia; China, Japan and Korea; Afghanistan and the Himalayas; North Africa - Morocco to Egypt

HabitatBare ground, arable fields, walls, bare soil on chalk downs, cliffs etc[ 17 Title Flora of the British Isles. Publication Author Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. Publisher Cambridge University Press Year 1962 ISBN - Description A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures. ]. Mountain grassland slopes, sandy or stony barrens, fields, gardens; at elevations from 600 - 4,000 metres in China[ 266 Title Flora of China Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ Publisher Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. Year 1994 ISBN Description An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available. ].