Diodia virginiana

virginia buttonweed, buttonweed
Family

Rubiaceae

Leaf Arrangement

opposite

Leaf Attachment

sessile

Leaf Margin

serrulate

Leaf Type

simple

Leaf Shape

linear, oblong, elliptic, lanceolate, oblanceolate

Growth Form

forb, shrub

Flower Color

white

Flower Petals

3

Flower Month

May - November

Height (meters)

0.1 - 0.8

Milky Sap

No

Armed/Unarmed

Unarmed

Origin

native

Lifespan

annual, perennial

Growing Season

Warm season


Wetland Class

FACW

Wetland Coefficient of Conservatism

2

Prairie Coefficient of Conservatism

4

Field Characters

Hairy stem. 1 white flower in each leaf axil. Few flattened bristles in leaf axils. Colored stem where leaves meet. 2(3) calyx segments.Look alike: Spermacoce glabra- no hairs on stem, cluster of flowers in leaf axils. Diodia teres has narrower leaves, thread-like stipular brist, pinkish flowers.

Animal Use

Tough and bitter, not palatable to cattle.

Natural History

Found thriving on almost any type of soil from sands to shales and mud bottomlands. It is generally restricted to the southeastern United States. It ranges from the gulf states to Iowa and Connecticut but its best zone seems to be from Maryland, Virgini

Habitat

Savannas, wet ditches, margins of streams, marshes, swamps, coastal prairies and ponds.