Stellaria pungens

Stellaria pungens, commonly known as prickly starwort, is a flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a small, mat forming perennial with white star-shaped flowers and small sharply pointed, bright green leaves.

Description
Stellaria pungens is a sprawling or prostrate, mat forming perennial forb with angular stems that may be smooth or with occasional hairs. The leaves are arranged opposite, bright green, 5-10 mm long, about 2 mm wide at the base, sessile, narrowly egg-shaped, somewhat stiff, slightly curved upward, hairy edges and ending in a sharp point. The star-shaped flowers have five deeply divided petals giving the appearance of ten petals, each petal to 9 mm long and ten prominent dark anthers. The flowers are borne singly at the end of the stems or in the upper leaf axils on a pedicel 5-30 mm long. The sepals are more less as long as the petals, pointed, edges dry, thin and flexible. The fruit is a dry, egg-shaped capsule up to 8 mm long. Flowering occurs from October to December.

Taxonomy
Stellaria pungens was first formally described in 1834 by Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart and the description was published in ''Voyage Autour du Monde. Botanique''.

Distribution and habitat
Prickly starwort is a moderately common species growing in steep, rocky or shaded sites in woodland in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.