Mollugo verticillata

Carpetweed

Botanical description: A native annual plant, Mollugo verticillata or carpetweed is a common, though never obnoxious member of the urban flora. Carpetweed forms a prostrate mat that radiates from a central point, a thin taproot, usually seen emerging from cracks in pavement. Mollugo is also found in rich agricultural soils, along with the more typical conditions of gravelly dry places, either way, in ample sunshine. The white flowers are very small, but prolific, blooming from May until September or October, growing from each leaf cluster. Seed from the first flush of flowers begin to develop soon after and continues through the end of the growth cycle, depending on the weather, as late as November. Foliage is also small, individual tapering leaves are found in whorls of 5 to 6 at stem nodes, twirling around the stem. The greens of the plant are ostensibly edible, though some sources list it as having an unpleasant flavor, or being too small a plant to bother collecting, unless driven by desperation. It has been cultivated as an edible addition to soups, or on its own.