Annual Pearlwort - introduced (*Sagina apetala)

Family: Caryophyllaceae (Carnation family).

Native of the northern hemisphere.

Occurrence: Widespread. Waste areas, grassy gully floors, granite areas etc. An environmental weed.

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 flowers have four sepals; the petals, if any, are inside the sepals.

It differs from Sagina apetala in that S. procumbens

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

Photos 1: Kalimna, Castlemaine. 2: Annual Pearlwort. Most specimens are more sparsely branched and more erect. Garden specimen. Castlemaine.