''Arenaria ciliata'', the fringed sandwort, is a perennial herb of the family

Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactacea ...

. ''A. ciliata'' is a

calcicole A calcicole, calciphyte or calciphile is a plant that thrives in lime rich soil. The word is derived from the Latin 'to dwell on chalk'. Under acidic conditions, aluminium becomes more soluble and phosphate less. As a consequence, calcicoles grown ...

occurring in open grassland and on bare rock in mountainous areas.

Distribution

It is European with an outlying population in

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

. This species is not known from Britain. It was discovered in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in 1806 growing on

Ben Bulben Benbulbin ( ga, Binn Ghulbain), sometimes Benbulben or Ben Bulben, is a large flat-topped nunatak rock formation in County Sligo, Ireland. It is part of the Dartry Mountains, in an area sometimes called "Yeats Country". Benbulbin is a protecte ...

Co. Sligo. This remains the only known Irish population.

References

*Preston, C.D. Pearman, D. & Dines, T., (2002). ''New Atlas of The British and Irish Flora''. Oxford. ciliata Flora of Greenland Flora of Europe Flora of Ireland Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Caryophyllaceae-stub