2 New Books ** Edible Plants: An inspirational guide to choosing and growing unusual edible plants and Woodland Gardening (Forest) [Paperback]. more >>
Search Page Content
   Bookmark and Share
   
    By donating to PFAF, you can help support and expand our activities
    Plant Suppliers: Click here for a List
Armeria maritima - (Mill.)Willd.                
                 
Common Name Sea Thrift
Family Plumbaginaceae
Synonyms A. elongata. A. vulgaris. Statice armeria. S. maritima.
Known Hazards None known
Habitats Coastal salt marshes, pastures and maritime cliffs[17]. Dry, sandy, somewhat acidic soils in sandy turf, coastal salt marshes, cliffs and mountain pastures[268].
Range W. Europe, including Britain, from Iceland to N. Spain.
Edibility Rating  
Medicinal Rating  
Care
Fully Hardy Well drained soil Moist Soil Full sun

Summary       

Physical Characteristics       
 icon of manicon of flower
Armeria maritima is an evergreen Perennial growing to 0.1 m (0ft 4in) by 0.2 m (0ft 8in) at a slow rate.
It is hardy to zone 4 and is not frost tender. It is in leaf 12-Jan It is in flower from Jun to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees, flies, beetles, lepidoptera.It is noted for attracting wildlife.


Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in saline soils.
It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure.
Armeria maritima Sea Thrift


(c) 2010 Ken Fern & Plants For A Future
Armeria maritima Sea Thrift
ttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Southgeist
   
Habitats       
 Ground Cover; Cultivated Beds; East Wall. In. South Wall. In. West Wall. In.
Edible Uses                                         
Edible Parts: Leaves;  Root.
Edible Uses:

Leaves - cooked[177]. Used for slimming[61]. Root[69]. No more details are given[69].
Medicinal Uses
Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.



Sea thrift is rarely used in herbal medicine, though the dried flowering plant is antibiotic and has been used in the treatment of obesity, some nervous disorders and urinary infections[268]. It cannot be used externally as an antibiotic poultice because it can cause dermatitis or local irritation[268].
Other Uses
A good ground-cover for a sunny position[200]. The cultivar 'Vindictive' has been especially recommended[188] and so has 'Alba'[190]. Plants form a slowly spreading carpet[208].
Cultivation details                                         
Succeeds in most soils including clay and poor sands[200]. Prefers a well-drained sandy soil with added leaf mould and a sunny position[1, 111, 134]. Requires an acid soil according to one report[24] whilst others say that it dislikes acid soils. Plants are very wind-tolerant and succeed in maritime gardens[233]. Established plants are drought tolerant[190]. Succeeds when grown at the top of a retaining wall or a cavity wall[219]. The plant tolerates light treading[200]. It forms a slowly expanding clump and makes a good edging plant[111]. A good butterfly plant[24, 30]. The flower is a symbol of sympathy, used at funerals[66].
                                                                                 
Propagation                                         
Seed - pre-soak for 8 hours in warm water and then sow in pots of sandy soil in a cold frame. Germination usually takes place in 2 - 3 weeks at 15°c[134]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter, planting them out in late spring or early summer. Division in spring or after flowering[111]. Fairly easy, large divisions can be planted out straight into their permanent positions whilst it is probably best to pot up smaller divisions and to grow them on in light shade in a cold frame until they are rooting well.
Plant Suppliers: Click here for a List

      You can download this page as a PDF

Expert comment                                         
 
      
Author                                         
(Mill.)Willd.
                                                                                 
Botanical References                                         
17200
                                                                                 
Links / References                                         

[1]F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).
[17]Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles.
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
[24]Baines. C. Making a Wildlife Garden.
Fairly good with lots of ideas about creating wildlife areas in the garden.
[30]Carter D. Butterflies and Moths in Britain and Europe.
An excellent book on Lepidoptera, it also lists their favourite food plants.
[61]Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man.
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
[66]Freethy. R. From Agar to Zenery.
Very readable, giving details on plant uses based on the authors own experiences.
[69]Moore. D. M. Flora of Tierra del Fuego.
Standard work for this part of S. America. Excellent details of habitat and a few notes on plant uses.
[111]Sanders. T. W. Popular Hardy Perennials.
A fairly wide range of perennial plants that can be grown in Britain and how to grow them.
[134]Rice. G. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 2.
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. An interesting article on Ensete ventricosum.
[177]Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption.
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
[188]Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.
[190]Chatto. B. The Dry Garden.
A good list of drought resistant plants with details on how to grow them.
[200]Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992.
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[208]Thomas. G. S. Plants for Ground Cover
An excellent detailled book on the subject, very comprehensive.
[219]Grey-Wilson. C. & Matthews. V. Gardening on Walls
A nice little book about plants for growing against walls and a small section on plants that can grow in walls.
[233]Thomas. G. S. Perennial Garden Plants
A concise guide to a wide range of perennials. Lots of cultivation guides, very little on plant uses.
[268]Stuart. M. (Editor) The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism
Excellent herbal with good concise information on over 400 herbs.

Readers comment                                         
 
Jim M.
May 11 2012 12:00AM
I soaked some seeds overnight in water that reached 39°C and put them on the kitchen windowsill in January. I got excellent germination over two to three weeks. A batch with no soaking failed to germinate even after a year left outside.
QR Code

What's this?

This is a QR code (short for Quick Response) which gives fast-track access to our website pages. QR Codes are barcodes that can be read by mobile phone (smartphone) cameras. This QR Code is unique to this page. All plant pages have their own unique code. For more information about QR Codes click here.
1. Copy and print the QR code to a plant label, poster, book, website, magazines, newspaper etc and even t-shirts.
2. Smartphone users scan the QR Code which automatically takes them to the webpage the QR Code came from.
3. Smartphone users quickly have information on a plant directly for the pfaf.org website on their phone.
Rate This Plant                                         
Please rate this plants for how successful you have found it to be. You will need to be logged in to do this. Our intention is not to create a list of 'popular' plants but rather to highlight plants that may be rare and unusual and that have been found to be useful by website users. This hopefully will encourage more people to use plants that they possibly would not have considered before.
     
                                                                                 
Add a comment/link                                         

If you have important information about this plant that may help other users please add a comment or link below. Only comments or links that are felt to be directly relevant to a plant will be included. If you think a comment/link or information contained on this page is inaccurate or misleading we would welcome your feedback at admin@pfaf.org. If you have questions about a plant please use the Forum on this website as we do not have the resources to answer questions ourselves.

* Please note: the comments by website users are not necessarily those held by PFAF and may give misleading or inaccurate information.

Subject : Armeria maritima  
             

Links To add a link to another website with useful info add the details here
Name of Site
URL of Site
Details

                                        
                                                                                 
                                                                                 
   
 

All the information contained in these pages is Copyright (C) Plants For A Future, 1996-2012.
Plants For A Future is a charitable company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Charity No. 1057719, Company No. 3204567,
Web Design & Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Some information cannot be used for commercial reasons or be modified (but some can). Please view the copyright link for more information.