Carpet Weed

(Mollugo verticillata)

 

Color Photograph: Copyright Nearctica.com, Inc.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Carpet Weed (Mollugo verticillata)

Identification: Plant prostrate, much branched, and spreading over the ground. Flowers white with 5 petals and arising from the whorls of leaves. Leaves arranged in whorls of 5 or 6 leaves, of variable length.

Distribution: Throughout North America.

Habitat: This species is found in a variety of disturbed habitats including fields, waste ground, and river banks.

Flowering period: May to September.

 

Carpet Weed (Mollugo verticillata)

Similar Species:

This species has a superficial resemblance to species of the genus Galium (Rubiaceae). The flowers of Galium have only 4 petals, not 5. The leaf whorls of Galium are typically more regular in length and spacing than those of Carpet Weed.

Similar Species

See Discussion on the Left