Spergula Dill. ex L., Sp. Pl. 1: 440. 1753; Gen. Pl. ed. 5. 189. 1754; Boiss., Fl. Or. 1: 731. 1867; Edgew. & Hook. f. in Hook. f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 1: 243. 1875; Dequan & Gilbert, Fl. China, Fl. @eFloras. Org 6: 4; Hartman & Rabeler, Fl. North Amer. @ eFloras. org vol. 5: Ghazanfar and Nasir, Fl. Pak. @ eFloras. org p. 46; Spergularia (Pers.) J. Presl & C. Presl, Fl. Coch.: 94. 1819.

Herbs, annual, rarely perennial, much branched at base. Stem erect, decumbent or ascending, stem terete or angular. Leaves opposite in 2 clusters per node, appearing whorled, sessile, linear, sometimes succulent; stipules 4 per node, free, white, scarious, ovate to triangular, entire but splitting variously with age. Inflorescence terminal, open to diffuse cymes, bracts paired, minute; pedicels erect to ascending, spreading or usually reflexed, sometimes secund in fruit. Flowers usually actinomorphic, bisexual, pentamerous, hypogynous. Sepals 5, free, green, margin white, scarious. Petals 5, free, white blade apex entire. Stamens 10, rarely 5, filaments free. Ovary 1-locular with free central placentation bearing many ovules, styles 3-5. Fruit a capsule, ovoid to subglobose, 3-5-valved, valves opposite sepals, many-seeded. Seeds lenticular and laterally compressed, often winged.

Spergula fallax (Lowe) Krause in Sturm., Deutschl. Flora Abbild., ed. 2, 5: 19. 1901; Ghazanfar & Nasir, Fl. Pak. @ eFloras. org p. 46; Spergula pentandra auct. non Linn.; Maheshwari, Illustr. Fl. Delhi. f.19. 1966; Spergularia fallax Lowe, Hooker's J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 8: 289. 1856; Nair, Bull. Bot. Surv. India 9:277. 1964; Sharma & Kachroo, Fl. Jammu (Illustr.) 2: t. 32. 1983; Spergularia flaccida (Madden) N. Turner, Willdenovia 47: 214. 2017; Spergula arvensis L., Sp. Pl. 440. 1753.

Annual winter herb, 5-45 cm tall. Stem erect, decumbent or ascending, much branched from the base, slightly angular or terete, glabrous. Leaves simple, opposite, in 2 clusters per node, appearing in whorls (pseudowhorl), 10-25(-38) mm, linear-subulate, sessile, succulent, glabrous; axillary sterile shoots often present; 4 stipules per node, ca. 1 mm long, white, ovate to triangular, entire but splitting variously with age, apex often acuminate. Flowers in few-flowered, lax glabrous cymes, up to 20 cm with a 7 cm long peduncle, or flowers may be solitary; pedicels slender, much longer than calyx, up to 2.2 cm, spreading, deflexed on fruiting; bracts generally 2, minute. Flowers actinomorphic, bisexual, pentamerous, hypogynous, white 6-8 mm across. Sepals 5, free, ca. 4 mm x 2 mm, ovate-lanceolate, glabrous with white scarious margins, glabrous. Petals 5, free, ca. 3 mm x 2 mm, shorter than sepals, obovate or suborbicular with a minute claw, white, glabrous. Stamens 10, in 2 whorls, outer opposite to petals and inner opposite to sepals; filaments ca. 1 mm long, slender, base slightly dilated; anthers 0.15- 0.17 mm long. Ovary ca. 1 mm long, unilocular with free central placentas bearing many ovules; style 1 mm long; styles 3. Fruit a capsule, ovoid- globose, ca. 4-5 mm long, nearly equal to calyx, dehiscing by 3 valves. Seeds many, reniform to subglobose, 1-1.5 mm across, compressed laterally, glossy, smooth, black, with shiny white broad membranous wing.

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