On 3/10/10 4:51 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
I have a volunteer ground cover that I cannot identify. I also do not have
a functional camera in order to post a picture. Given the size of the
features I would need a pretty good macro lens to show them.

It has a very low spreading habit rising no more than about 2cm (1inch).
The stem is up to 10cm (4in) long but that is arbitrary as it roots
constantly as it spreads. The stem is soft, about 1mm (1/20th in) thick and
pale green. The leaves are in adjacent pairs. Each is 7-10mm (1/4 - 3/8in)
and oval in shape about 1/2 to 1/3 as wide as it is long. The leaf is matt
finish mid green and some have a dark reddish patch in the centre. It
branches at some nodes and produces reddish flower buds about 2mm (1/10 in)
in diameter. Most of the flowers are not open (it is autumn here) and the
petals are only visible through a magnifying glass, they are pink. It has
no smell. The habit is vaguely like thyme laid very flat instead of clumps
but the stems are leaves are soft and juicy where thyme is tougher.

It is growing well in an enriched clay soil garden that is watered when it
doesn't rain. The climate is warm temperate.

Any advice is welcome, even a guess so that I can start looking for images.

David


This sounds like spotted spurge, an agressive weed. By the time it's
big enough to see and remove, it's already dropped its tiny seeds. And
if you leave a short piece of stem, it will take root and continue
growing.

Its only "fortunate" feature is that it's an annual. But if you leave
it when it dies in the fall, you will find many new ones under it in the
following spring.

Depending on the botanist, it's either Chamaesyce maculata or Euphorbia
maculata.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary