Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

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Scleranthus biflorus

Common name

Knawel, Cushion-bush, Two-flowered Knawel

Family

Caryophyllaceae

Where found

Dry forest, woodland, grassy areas, herbfields, roadsides, and damp sites. Widespread. Rarely coastal.

Notes

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 petalsStamen 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)