Armeria maritima (Sea thrift)

Sea thrift has a fondness for sunny, salty environments, but it is also at home in mountain areas. It occurs in most of the northern hemisphere, in Europe and North and South America.

Plants: Sea thrift thrives in dry, infertile soils where few other plants can compete. It shows up along coastal beaches. Plants are 6–12″ (15–30 cm) in size.

Leaves: Long, straight, stiff, sharp, and dark green, looking like blades of grass.

Flowers: Globular clusters ¾–1″ (1.9–2.5 cm) around, filled with tiny flowers, appear atop naked stalks that rise above the foliage. Blooms appear in April and May; they are pink, and sometimes white or red.

Habitats: Dry, sandy, saline conditions such as coastal cliffs, grassland and salt marshes, salted roadsides and inland on mountain rocks.

Sea thrift leaves resemble tufts of grass, but they are sharper. By Tomasz “Nemo5576” Górny

Edibility: Poisonous. Skull & Crossbones

All parts of the plant are poisonous if eaten, and some people are allergic to the pollen.

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Caryophyllidae	Cacti, many other succulents, carnivorous plants, and leadworts
Order	Plumbaginales	A relatively small order of shrubby or herbaceous plants
Family	Plumbaginaceae	Includes the leadwort and plumbago families
Genus	Armeria	Latinized from the old French name armoires for a cluster-headed dianthus, this is also the Latin name for the Dianthus
Species	maritima	Of the sea

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Range: Zones 4-8:

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