Virginia buttonweed - Diodia virginiana

Virginia buttonweed (Diodia virginiana) is sometimes considered a "weed" when it occurs and spreads in a turf grass setting, but it is an attractive ground cover elsewhere. This perennial forb occurs throughout Florida in a variety of moist to average soil habitats and has also been reported in most of the eastern US from Texas and Oklahoma through the southern Midwest to the Atlantic.  

The prostrate stems are noticeably "hairy" and jointed. Individual plants can spread out in many directions for several feet over time. The narrow lanceolate leaves are sessile on these stems, somewhat "hairy" too, and deep green in color. They are opposite each other on the stems and about 1 inch long.  

Flowering occurs in most months in warmer parts of Florida.  The white to pinkish tubular flowers are produced at the axils of the leaves. Each is composed of 4 slightly fused, somewhat "hairy" petals and is about 1/2 inch across.  The flowers attract a variety of pollinators and the ripe seed capsules are also "hairy", ridged and elliptical.  

Virginia buttonweed can spread rapidly in a landscape setting by seed, by its rooting stems and by stem fragments that can root on their own if mowed or cut.  For these reasons, it is not a species likely to be cultivated by nurseries associated with FANN - the Florida Association of Native Nurseries.  Although adaptable and native, I do not recommend it for most landscape settings as it can crowd out other species and reduce diversity.  In a natural area, however, it can play an important ecological role as a pollinator plant.