Common name: Tiny False Buttonweed, Erect False Buttonweed • Hindi: सफेद फूली safed phooli • Marathi: तारकादळ tarakadal • Telugu: చుక్కకాడ tsukka-kada
Botanical name: Spermacoce pusilla Family: Rubiaceae (Coffee family) Synonyms: Spermacoce stricta, Borreri pusilla
Tiny False 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 False Buttonweed is native to India, Nepal, China, Vietnam,
Indonesia and Philippines. Flowering: July-August.
Identification credit: Dinesh Valke
| Photographed at Vaghbil, Thane, Maharashtra. |
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