On bare, on arable and on cultivated ground, this is a hairy annual which creeps along, barely raising itself above 40cm high. Flowering from May to September, it has small, pale lilac-purple 4-petalled flowers (2-3mm across) which are in small heads of up to 10, each flower cluster surrounded by a whorl of bracts. The narrow, elliptical leaves have prickly edges, are also in whorls, 6 to each whorl. This plant is native and it belongs to the family Rubiaceae. .
My first record of this wildflower is from Castlecove, Co Kerry in 1977 and I photographed it near Sneem, Co Kerry in 2008.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
