| Author | Michaux | |
| Distribution | Nearly throughout the Coastal Plain, and spreading westward to be found now over most of the Piedmont, except for the northern counties. Ranges west to Caldwell and Gaston counties. This species is weedy and often occurs in lawns, and thus some counties in the Piedmont might actually be better mapped as Provenance Uncertain. Large numbers of photo records are now available on iNaturalist; as it is a tiny plant, most people do not bother to make collections, and photos are now best used as documentation by the public.
This is a Southern species, ranging from southeastern VA and southern MO south to the Gulf Coast, but avoiding montane areas. | |
| Abundance | Often common to locally abundant in the southern part of the Coastal Plain; fairly common in much of the rest of the Coastal Plain, except rare to absent in the northwestern corner. Uncommon to locally common, and increasing, in the southern and eastern Piedmont. This is clearly an S5 species in NC, as it grows on roadsides and in lawns. | |
| Habitat | This is a ruderal species (at least now), growing mostly in lawns, on roadsides, and in openings in bottomlands. It also grows in low pinelands, but most sites for it are now in man-made habitats. | |
| Phenology | Blooms from March to May, and fruits shortly after flowering. However, this species is hard to find in bloom, and most populations seem vegetative. | |
| Identification | This is a very small, prostrate herb that forms mats along the ground. The leaves are rounded, essentially kidney-shaped, about the size and shape of a penny, on stalks longer than the blades. The flowers, if you are lucky enough to find any, grow on stalks in leaf axils, one per stalk, and about 1/4-inch across, with 5 white corolla lobes. As the leaves are quite obvious, especially as the margins are entire, you should have little trouble identifying this "under-foot" plant. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
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| Other Common Name(s) | Pony-foot. Some references use a hyphen, and others use an apostrophe. | |
| State Rank | S4? [S5] | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FAC link |
| USACE-emp | FACW link |
