Carpetweed

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Carpetweed leaves

Carpetweed

Carpetweed

Carpetweed flowers

Morphology

Stem

Prostrate or rarely ascending, 2 to 18 inches long, wiry, much branched, radiating in all directions, green, glabrous.

Leaves

Whorls of 3-8 (usually 5-6) clustered at each node; blades simple, unequal, spatulate or narrowly to broadly oblanceolate, 2/5 to 1.2 inches long, 1/8 to 2/5 inch wide, basal leaves broadest, light-green, glabrous, 1 conspicuous vein; tip blunt to pointed; base tapered, short, stalk-like.

Inflorescence

Flowers, 2-6, clustered at each node.

Flower

Inconspicuous; stalk thread-like, 1/5 to 3/5 inch long; sepals 5, distinct, oblong to elliptic, 1/16 to 1/10 inch long, about 1/25 inch wide, pale green on back, white inside; petals absent; stamens 3-4, alternate with sepals.

Fruit

Capsule, egg-shaped to elliptic, 1/16 to 1/6 inch long, extending slightly beyond sepals; seeds 15-35, tiny, flattened, kidney-shaped, dark reddish-brown, smooth or with curved ridges on sides.

Ecology

Habitat

Waste areas, roadsides, disturbed low sites, fields, lawns, gardens, stream banks, dunes; all soil types but more abundant in moist soils.

Distribution

Throughout Kansas.

Practical Information

Uses

Prairie chickens, quail and small mammals eat the seeds.

Additional Notes