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Annual Knawel

Annual Knawel

Scleranthus annuus

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How common: Common

Alien species

Annual Knawel is a small, low plant of dry, open ground. It has wiry grey‑ to yellow‑green stems with pairs of needle‑like leaves, and tiny green star‑shaped flowers that have no petals. You can see it on rocky outcrops, dry grasslands, roadsides and worn yard edges across much of Europe, and it has spread to other regions.

Did you know?

  • Its flowers have no petals; the green pointed parts around them do the showy work.
  • It has two forms: one loose and spreading, another tight and cushion‑like.

About the species

Identification

A low plant that lives for one year (sometimes two), forming loose patches. Stems grey‑ to yellow‑green, spreading or slightly upright, usually up to about 25 cm. Leaves in pairs, very narrow and stiff like short needles (about 0.6–1.3 cm), set close to the stems. At branch tips are small, forked clusters of tiny green, star‑like flowers with no petals; narrow, pointed, leaf‑like pieces often stick out above them. Later each flower makes a single small hard seed. Can be confused with the very rare Perennial Knawel, which forms tighter cushions and survives year to year. Flowers in Finland from June to September.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

meadow

Flowering

Jun–Sep

About the habitat

Prefers dry, sunny, open places on poor or sandy soil: rocky ground, dry grasslands, road and path edges, farm fields and other disturbed sites. Common in southern and central Finland; farther north only scattered and occasional.

Sources

Photo: Fornax at German Wikipedia, Public domain https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scleranthus annuus eF.jpg

Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Kulttuuriympäristöt: kedot, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38092

Text: Pinkka (Luomus), CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38092

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viherj%C3%A4senruoho

See also