Scleranthus diander
Scleranthus diander commonly known as tufted knawel, is a flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, it grows in eastern states of Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. It is a small, spreading herb with white or light green flowers.
Description
Scleranthus diander is a small, spreading, multi-stemmed perennial herb that forms a mat or with trailing stems and up to wide. The leaves are pale green, crowded, linear, triangular in cross-section, long, wide, smooth, more or less keeled and a pointed tip long. The pale green or white flowers are mostly sessile, obscure or on a botany long, and borne in clusters at the end of branches or in leaf axils. The bracts are sharply tipped, cream-coloured, usually longer than the flowers, calyx more or less pointed, spreading and mostly longer than the floral tube. Flowering occurs usually from October to January and the fruit is a ribbed nutlet, long and wide.
Taxonomy
Scleranthus diander was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown and the description was published in Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae. The specific epithet means "two stamens".
Distribution and habitat
Tufted knawel grows in woodland, grassland, pastures and dry habitats in eastern states of Australia and the Australian Capital Territory.