Annual Knawel

 
 


It is fairly rare nowadays for me to add a new flower to my species list. With a few exceptions anything new I see is likely to be one of a group of difficult to distinguish species (which I am too lazy to identify). There are, however, a number of species of which I do not have decent photos. Some of these are very common and have simply been ignored because I've assumed I have already taken them. This was the case with Annual Knawel (Scleranthus annuus) until Daughter-who-takes-photos asked me to identify it in her garden. Reaching up to 10cm high, it is common on dry, bare places throughout Britain and Ireland and can be an abundant garden weed. The narrow, pointed leaves are borne in opposite pairs along the stems. The flowers comprise close-knit heads of greenish white sepals with no petals and appear from May to August.


It is also known as German Moss or German Knotgrass and few of the photos on the web look like mine but I reckon I’ve identified it correctly. One that does look like mine is at Wild Plants in Netherlands and Belgium.