The Common Scurvy Grass likes to grow on muddy shores and on rocks by
the seaside, where you will find its masses of white flowers all summer.
The flowers grow close together in a cluster on short stalks. Each
flower has four white petals, which are sometimes tinged with purple.
The four tiny sepals are tinged with purple too. And the buds which are
crowded together at the end of the cluster are nearly all purple.
After the flowers are withered, the seed-vessels still cling to the end
of the flower-stalks. In this plant the seed-vessels are round, like
small berries, and they are greenish-brown in colour. You usually find
eight or ten of these berries halfway up the stem; then there will be
several white flowers still in full bloom, and at the top of the stem
comes a cluster of purple buds.
The Common Scurvy Grass has two kinds of leaves. Those that spring
directly from the root have long stalks. They are broad, with smooth
edges, which are slightly waved, and they are thick and fleshy. The
second kind of leaves has no stalks; they grow clasping the stem
closely, and they are shaped like arrow-heads.
The stem of the plant is hollow, and four-sided.