Description: Annual herbs with 4-angled stems.
Leaves and stipules ± equal in whorls of 4–6.
Inflorescences terminal heads of numerous sessile flowers, fused near the base, surrounded by leafy involucral bracts. Flowers bisexual, mostly 4-merous. Calyx 6-lobed. Corolla funnel-shaped with tube longer than lobes. Stamens with filaments fused to the corolla tube. Ovary 2-locular, each with one ovule; style 2-lobed with a capitate stigma.
Fruit dry, 2-lobed but usually not breaking freely into 2 mericarps.
Distribution and occurrence: World: 1 species, Europe & western Asia., naturalized in many parts of the world. Australia: 1 species (naturalized).
Text by T. A. James & W. K. Allen
Taxon concept:
| One species in NSW: Sherardia arvensis |
|
