Photographs: Mizen Head, Co. Cork

Sea Pearlwort Sagina maritima Mongán mara Family: Caryophyllaceae Flowering time: May-August. Annual. Native. Inconspicuous flowers with 4 sepals, but petals are often very tiny or completely absent. The blunt, fleshy, dark green leaves usually without bristly points. Growth more/less erect or spreading. Height 3-10cm Found on bare ground around Irish coasts on rocks, walls, waste ground, shingle, dune-slacks, cliff-tops and beside tracks.

Sea Pearlwort, Sagina maritima, Mongán mara