Spreading Pearlwort - introduced (*Sagina procumbens)

Family: Caryophyllaceae (Carnation family).

Native of the northern hemisphere.

Occurrence: Uncommon. The specimen illustrated was a pot plant weed, Castlemaine.

Identification:

• the leaves are narrow and pointed, and grow in opposite pairs
• the petals are tiny or absent
• the flowers are at the ends of slender stalks
• the green sepals have tissue-paper-like margins
• it is a spreading, mat-forming perennial.

Matted Pearlwort differs from Sagina apetala in that Matted Pearlwort

• is a perennial
• is often mat-forming
• often roots from the leaf nodes
• has sepals with translucent edges.

Photos 1: Pot-plant weed.