Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Spergula arvensis
Corn spurry
Caryophyllaceae
Weed of new lawns, disturbed sites, and cultivated land. Mostly Sydney area to Blue Mountains, and the ACT. Occasional elsewhere.
Introduced annual herb to 0.4 m high or sprawling. Leaves fleshy. Glandular hairs on stems, leaves, flower stalks, and sepals. Leaves whorled, 0.7–3.5 cm long, 0.3–0.8 mm wide, fleshy, margins strongly rolled down, tips blunt. Flowers 4–7 mm in diameter, with 5 white petals. Stalks on individual flowers 4–20 mm long, sharply turned down after flowering but often becoming erect again as the seed case matures. Flowers in loose branched clusters. Flowering: August–January.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Spergula~arvensis (accessed 7 February, 2021)
This identification key and fact sheets are available as a free mobile application: