Generally found on arable ground, tilled fields and sandy soils, this is a stickily hairy annual wildflower which has very small white flowers. The flowers (4-7mm across) each have 5 styles, and 5 petals as long as the sepals. Flowering from May to September, they are borne in forked cymes on straggly stems and the narrow leaves are arranged in whorls along these stems. The plant grows to about 30cm high, is not a native plant and it belongs to the family Caryophyllaceae.
I first identified this wildflower at Newcastle, Co Wicklow in 1978 and photographed it in a tilled field near Gibletstown, Co Wexford in 2007.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
