Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Scleranthus biflorus
Knawel, Cushion-bush, Two-flowered Knawel
Caryophyllaceae
Dry forest, woodland, grassy areas, herbfields, roadsides, and damp sites. Widespread. Rarely coastal.
Perennial herb, prostrate, forming dense compact mats or cushions to 0.1 m high. Leaves opposite each other, crowded on the upper parts of the stems, 0.2–1.2 cm long, 0.3-2 mm wide, hairless; lower surface keeled or not keeled, margins very narrow and membranous, with minute teeth to wavy, tips pointed. Flowers 1-2 mm long, small, green, tubular, with 4 sepals and 0 petals. Stamen 1, about the same length as or longer than the sepals, persisting in the seeding stage. Flowers paired. Each pair of flowers subtended by a pair of bracts which persist at the seeding stage. Flowering: spring-summer.
All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Scleranthus~biflorus (accessed 6 February, 2021)
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