Family: Caryophyllaceae
Local name: Spergularia con radice robusta
English name: Sandspurry or Sea-spurrey
Habitat: sandy areas and coastal cliffs

Description: Spergularia macrorhiza (Req. ex Loisel.) Heynh. is a perennial herbaceous plant with a grown woody root producing annual prostrate branches. In the past, it was originally found near coastal cliffs, but sometimes as psammophilous too, since it adapts to sandy areas. It mainly prefers rocky zones, close to beaches and lawns behind. Blooming starts in late-April and goes on until the Fall season. Endemic to Sardinia and Corsica, this plant is also present on the Ionian coast, in Puglia. It is found on the islands of the National Park of La Maddalena Archipelago. 

Texts: National Park, with the collaboration of Associazione G.Cesaraccio - ProNatura APS
Pictures: Tommaso Gamboni (Ass.G.Cesaraccio - ProNatura APS)

Bibliographic sources:
Flora dell’Arcipelago di La Maddalena. G. Cesaraccio. Ed. Sorba.
Portale della flora d’Italia. http://dryades.units.it/floritaly/index.php
Acta plantarum. https://www.actaplantarum.org/
Altervista botanica. http://luirig.altervista.org/flora/taxa
Flora di Sardegna. http://www.sardegnaflora.it/