Carpetweed (Note: This specimen is a broadleaf weed, not a true grass)
Mollugo verticillata · Summer Annual, C3 Broadleaf
Grass Family
Molluginaceae (Carpetweed family)
Grass Category
Invasive/Weed Grass (Broadleaf Weed)
Variety / Cultivar
Common wild type
Hardiness Zones
USDA Zones 3-11; dies back at first frost; seeds overwinter in soil for several years.
About This Grass
A low-growing, mat-like summer annual that forms circular patches. Stems are smooth, green to reddish-purple, and radiate from a single point. It features whorled leaves at the nodes and tiny, star-shaped white flowers.
Blade Characteristics
Leaves (not blades) are spatulate to linear-lanceolate, 1-3 cm long, arranged in whorls of 3-8 at each node. Tips are rounded to slightly pointed; light green color; smooth texture with no distinct ligule or auricles.
Root System
Short, central taproot; shallow depth; no rhizomes or stolons, but can form dense mats that mimic sod to the untrained eye.
Growing Information
Origin Region
Native to tropical America; naturalized throughout North America in sandy or disturbed soils
Growth Habit
Prostrate, mat-forming, radiating from a central taproot with multi-branched stems
Sunlight & Water Needs
Full sun preferred; highly drought tolerant; thrives in dry, sandy, or nutrient-poor disturbed soils; requires very little water.
Mowing & Maintenance
Managed as a weed; survives low mowing due to prostrate habit; high maintenance to eradicate from lawns; usually requires pre-emergent or post-emergent broadleaf herbicides.
Special Characteristics
Extremely heat tolerant; thrives in 'hot spots' like sidewalk cracks and thinning lawn areas; rapid spreader in bare soil.
Ecological Information
Introduced/Naturalized; provides minimal forage for small insects; considered a weed of cultivation; often found with Crabgrass or Purslane.