Polycarpon tetraphyllum
(L.) L. Four-leaved AllseedAnnual, biennial or perennial, with slender taproot. Stems prostrate to ascending or erect, 5–15(–25) cm long. Leaves sessile to petiolate, obovate to oblong-spathulate, 4–18 mm long, 3–10 mm wide, obtuse; petioles to nearly as long as lamina; stipules 1–2 mm long. Inflorescence much-branched; bracts 1–2 mm long. Flowers 3–4 mm diam.; pedicels 0.5–4 mm long; sepals mucronate, 2–3 mm long with a broad, green midrib and membranous margins; petals white, entire or emarginate, less than half sepal length; stamens 3–5. Capsule ovoid, c. 2 mm long; seeds pale brown, 0.4–0.6 mm long. Flowers most of year.
LoM, MuM, Wim, GleP, Brid, VVP, VRiv, MSB, RobP, MuF, GipP, OtP, WaP, Gold, CVU, GGr, DunT, NIS, EGL, EGU, WPro, HSF, HNF, OtR, Strz, MonT, VAlp. Also naturalised all States, Norfolk Is., Macquarie Is. Native to central Europe and the Mediterranean area, but widely introduced elsewhere. A common weed of lawns, disturbed and waste ground throughout extra-tropical Australia.
Adams, L.G. (1996). Caryophyllaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 3, Dicotyledons Winteraceae to Myrtaceae, pp. 228–271. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning
