FoI
Tiny Buttonweed
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Tiny Buttonweed
ative Photo: Thingnam Rajshree
Common name: Tiny Buttonweed, Erect Buttonweed • Hindi: सफेद फूली safed phooli • Marathi: तारकादळ tarakadal • Telugu: చుక్కకాడ tsukka-kada
Botanical name: Spermacoce pusilla    Family: Rubiaceae (Coffee family)
Synonyms: Spermacoce kleinii, Spermacoce gardneri, Borreria pusilla

Tiny Buttonweed is an annual erect herb, growing up to 60 cm tall. Stems are 4-angled, with small recurved prickles. Linear or narrowly elliptic leaves, 20–70 x 2–5 mm, have some rough hairs above, and are smooth below. Four petalled flowers appear in a round head, to 1.2 cm wide, in leaf axils or at the end of branches. Sepals are narrowly triangular, to 1.2 mm long. Flowers are white or faint pink, 1.7–2.4 mm long, tube to 1.3 mm long, petals to 1.1 mm long. Stamens, equal to or longer than the petals, protrude out of the flower. Style is equal to or longer than the petals. Tiny Buttonweed is native to India, Nepal, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines. It is also found in the Himalayas at altitudes of 100-1500 m. Flowering: July-August.

Identification credit: Dinesh Valke Photographed in Maharashtra.

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