Annual Knawel - Scleranthus annuus

Variable, low, spiky looking plant with ascending stems. Flower clusters exceeded by bracts, sepals pointed with narrow, membranous margins.

Records from this species should be confirmed by a County Recorder for botany.  It is on the VC55 Rare Plant Register, and therefore a specimen should not be taken.  Take detailed field photos and submit to NatureSpot as soon as possible; and if you think you have found it in a new location, inform the County Recorder as soon you can.

Dry sandy, grassy and gravelly habitats on open, acid soils.

May to October.

Annual or biennial.

Widespread but local in Britain.

Rare in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the Flora of Leicestershire (Primavesi & Evans, 1988) it was present in 10 tetrads out of 617, and in 1 tetrads in the Flora of Rutland (Messenger, 1971).

In the VC55 checklist (Jeeves, 2011) it was listed as Rare, and is now probably only found in Croft Pasture.  Previously it was widespread on arable land, open grassland and disturbed ground on sandy or granitic soils.  It may be overlooked. 

It is on the current Rare Plant Register (Hall & Woodward, 2022) as Locally Rare.