Armeria maritima, commonly known as thrift, sea thrift or sea pink, is a species of flowering plant in the family Plumbaginaceae. It is a compact perennial which grows in low clumps and sends up long stems that support globes of bright pink flowers.
Armeria maritima sensu lato has a circumpolar distribution can be found in the wild in coastal areas across the Northern Hemisphere but also occurs in parts of South America. 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.
