Sea-milkwort

This short (approximately 20 cm) rhizomatous plant forms carpets. It is smooth, fleshy and bluish-green in colour. Its small leaves are arranged in rosettes around the stem. The small, single flowers open in the leaf axils. The flowers do not have any petals—their corolla-like calyx is made up of reddish-pink sepals. Its fruit is a green capsule with red stripes. It is small, hard and dome-shaped and contains about 10 tiny white seeds. This plant resembles seabeach sandwort. They can be differentiated by the arrangement of their leaves on the stem.