Scleranthus
Encyclopedia
Scleranthus, the knawels, are a genus
of herbaceous
plants in the carnation
family.
Species include:
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of herbaceous
Herbaceous
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
plants in the carnation
Caryophyllaceae
The Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactaceae and Polygonaceae...
family.
Species include:
- Scleranthus annuusScleranthus annuusScleranthus annuus is a species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common names German knotweed and annual knawel. It is native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and it is known throughout the rest of the temperate world as an introduced species and a common weed. It grows in many...
L. (German-knotweed, knawel or annual knawel), native to AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, AsiaAsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and naturalised elsewhere. - Scleranthus biflorus (J. R. Forst. & G. Forst.) Hook.f., native to AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
(Knawel, Cushion-bush or Two-flowered Knawel) - Scleranthus diander R.Br.(Tufted knawel), native to Australia
- Scleranthus minusculus F.Muell., native to Australia
- Scleranthus perennisScleranthus perennisPerennial knawel is a perennial herbaceous plant of the carnation family. It grows on sandy, dry, acidic soils. It can grow up to 15 cm high and has white flowers of 2–5 mm. The plant used to be economically significant as the major host plant of the Polish cochineal....
(Perennial Knawel) - Scleranthus pungens R.Br., native to Australia
- Scleranthus singuliflorus (F.Muell.) Mattf. (One-flowered Knawel), native to higher alpine areas in Australia