Sabulina verna

Sabulina verna is a scarce species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, known by the common names spring sandwort, leadwort, golden moss, or Irish moss. It is a small mat-forming, perennial herb. It was first described as Arenaria verna by Carl Linnaeus in 1767 and is known by several synonyms including Minuartia verna.

The small (7–9 mm across), 5-petalled flowers appear on short, downy stems from spring until late summer. The slender leaves have 3 veins.

It ranges across temperate Eurasia and northwestern Africa with a boreal-montane distribution. It is typically found on carboniferous limestone ground. It grows in short grassland, on exposed limestone pavement, on scree slopes and on metal-rich soils, including spoil heaps from lead mining.

Subspecies
Five subspecies are accepted.
 * Sabulina verna subsp. brevipetala (Hartvig & Å.Strid) Dillenb. & Kadereit – Turkey
 * Sabulina verna subsp. grandiflora (C.Presl) Dillenb. & Kadereit – Sardinia and Sicily
 * Sabulina verna subsp. hercynica (Willk.) Dillenb. & Kadereit – Belgium, France, and Germany
 * Sabulina verna subsp. kabylica (Pomel) Dillenb. & Kadereit – northwestern Africa (Morocco and Algeria)
 * Sabulina verna subsp. verna – Europe, Turkey and the Caucasus, Siberia, Central Asia, Xinjiang, Mongolia, Japan, and the eastern Himalayas.