Wiry, grey-green, hairy annual, only about 15cm high, this tiny wildflower grows on old stone walls, dry bare ground and chalky places. It's a bushy little plant which has small white starry flowers (5-6mm across) each with five pointed petals, shorter than the surrounding five pointed sepals. These flowers, which have yellowish anthers, bloom from May to September and are borne in clusters on slender stems. The small, untoothed leaves are opposite, oval to lanceolate and without stalks. There is a fruit capsule in autumn which is pear-shaped and has little teeth at the apex. This is a native plant which belongs to the Caryophyllaceae family.
I first recorded this plant in 2009 at Scarawalsh, Co Wexford when I also photographed it.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
