Armeria maritima


Armeria maritima, the thrift, sea thrift or sea pink, is a species of flowering plant in the family Plumbaginaceae. It is a compact evergreen perennial which grows in low clumps and sends up long stems that support globes of bright pink flowers. In some cases purple, white or red flowers also occur. It is a popular garden flower and has been distributed worldwide as a garden and cut flower. It does well in gardens designed as xeriscapes or rock gardens. The Latin specific epithet maritima means pertaining to the sea or coastal.

Subspecies

12 subspecies are accepted.
  • Armeria maritima subsp. azorica – Azores
  • Armeria maritima subsp. barcensis – central Romania
  • Armeria maritima subsp. bottendorfensis – central Germany
  • Armeria maritima subsp. californica – California Seapink – west coast of North America from Vancouver Island to California
  • Armeria maritima subsp. elongata – Tall Thrift – northern, central, and eastern Europe
  • Armeria maritima subsp. halleri – coastal Europe from Spain to Poland
  • Armeria maritima subsp. hornburgensis – central Germany
  • Armeria maritima subsp. interior – Saskatchewan
  • Armeria maritima subsp. intermedia – Denmark and northern Germany
  • Armeria maritima subsp. maritima – northern and western Europe and Greenland
  • Armeria maritima subsp. purpurea – southern Germany, Switzerland, and northern Italy
  • Armeria maritima subsp. sibirica – Siberian Sea Thrift, Foxflower – subarctic Eurasia and North America, Colorado

    Distribution and habitat

Armeria maritima sensu lato has a circumpolar distribution can be found in the wild in coastal areas across the Northern Hemisphere. It can grow in dry, sandy, saline conditions such as coastal cliffs, grassland and salt marshes, salted roadsides and inland on mountain rocks. It is a common sight in British salt marshes, where it flowers April to October.
Armeria maritima has a great copper-tolerance, and is able to grow in soils with copper concentrations of up to 6400 mg/kg. One mechanism proposed is that not much copper is transported up the shoot of the plant, and is excreted from decaying leaves. Some of the physiology and metabolism of this species has been described, of particular note is how the metabolism of this species is altered with elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.

Ecology

Pollination is by various insects including bees and Lepidoptera.
It is a known host species to the pathogenic fungus Phoma herbarum.

Conservation

Armeria maritima is a common species in the UK, however there are several subspecies and in England, subspecies elongata has vulnerable conservation status and is designated as a species of principal importance for biodiversity conservation under the NERC Act.

Cultivation

The cultivar 'Vindictive' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

In popular culture

The British threepence coin issued between 1937 and 1952 had a design of thrift on the reverse. In British slang, thrifty means to have bought a lot for very little money and the phrase is thought to be the reason why thrift was used as the emblem for the threepence coin.
As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity Plantlife chose sea thrift as the county flower of the Isles of Scilly.