Whitehead Broom

Scientific Name - Spermacoce verticillata L.
[Borreria terminalis Small
Borreria verticillata (L.) Meyer]
Family - Rubiaceae

Perennial with much-branched stems, rooting at the nodes. Leaves opposite, smooth, narrowly elliptic to elliptic, veiny, tapering to a sharp tip and a sharp base, with a short petiole. Flowers white, in clusters at the upper nodes, longer than the two lobes of the calyx. Fruit smooth, or with a few hairs. Reproduces by seed. Found in all open or disturbed sandy areas, especially turf, also in pinelands. Occurs in southern peninsula of Florida. Also found in the West Indies, Mexico, Central and South America, West Tropical Africa, and the South Pacific.