Participant Info

Species

Spergularia rubra [Arenaria rubra] [Tissa rubra]

Family

Caryophyllaceae

CommonName

red sandspurry

Presence

YES

Status

exotic

EarliestDate

1988

LatestDate

2024

Ecosystem

montane, ruderal

Geobotanical

SSanjuans

Counties

Conejos

Passes

Cumbres, La Manga

WildlifePreserves

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

Yes Mary E. McDonald: along Forest Service road 113 "just below La Manga Pass off Hwy 117, 5 July2014; Rich Haswell, Conejos Co, Platoro 7 July 2021; Rich Haswell: Conejos Co, logging road above La Manga Creek 2 Aug 2022; Rich Haswell, by natural pond at Cumbres pass 2 Aug 2022

Comments

For Spergularia rubra there are only six Watershed records, all from Conejos Co: Burro Lake, east of the Continental Divide (1988); along Forest Service Road 115, below La Manga Pass (2014); in the cobbled streets of Platoro (2021); in a logging road above La Manga Creek (2022); by the natural pond at Cumbres pass (2022); and above Gold Pan RV Park (2024, iNaturalist observation #228161186). The plant is exotic and shows up in disturbed, mesic ground. It has scattered locations in all Western states, around the Great Lakes, and in New England. Rio Arriba Co, New Mexico, so far marks its most southward expansion down the Rio Grande drainage. Note that the papillae on the seed margin help distinguish Spergularia rubra from S. procumbens.

Annotation