Origin:
Found in warm, humid climates of most continents, as well as Hawaii, the West Indies, and from Florida to Louisiana. Considered a native in the U.S., but also found throughout Latin America and in Asia.
Biology:
An annual weed reproducing from seeds. Plants flower throughout the warm months. These are many-branched weeds with thin, weak stems that tend to grow prostrate along the ground or through turf, making them tolerant of low-mowing and difficult to remove physically.
Identification:
Stems are thin and potentially very long, with few or no hairs on them. Leaves are opposite and are elongate oval with sharply pointed tips and a sharp base on a short petiole. The spacing of the leaves is very close, almost giving the impression of a 4-leaved whorl on the stems.
Characteristicts Important to Control:
Preventive control in turf or landscape with pre-emergent herbicides, and post-emergent control in turf with a selective broadleaf herbicide.
