Buttonweed (Diodia virginiana)

Buttonweed in lawn 8/10/2020

This project is all about LEARNING about and NAMING the life I see every day, so I've chosen Buttonweed, a tiny wildflower that is currently blooming in my lawn.  It would be easy to walk by it and step on it and never even take note of it, as I have doubtlessly been doing for the 26 years we have lived on Salem Road.

Now, "lawn" is a lofty term for the grass in our yard, as I strictly share my daddy's attitudes about lawns -- water, fertilizer, and pesticides (insecticides or herbicides) are for crops, not grass.  We're not farming grass here.  And science agrees that we need to stop treating lawns like crops. Steven and I are extremely sparing in our use of pesticides here on Salem Road anyway, as we are concerned for our pollinators.  And our "lawn" is a laissez faire mixture of pasture grasses and weeds.  One of my goals is to move it more toward a natural lawn that supports our native species of plants and animals, but that project is down the road.  Right now, it's a Pinterest Project.  But I digress.

To identify this tiny flower, I pulled out my Wildflowers of Arkansas by Carl G. Hunter. Diodia virginiana is part of the Bedstraw or Madder family (Rubiaceae), along with our beloved Bluets. Looks like it grows just about anywhere: "moist or dry open areas, lawns, ditches, near water or low areas.  Statewide." Hunter also notes that it appears June-October.

A Google search indicates that people must REALLY HATE Buttonweed in their lawns and that it has no practical use for the homesteader.  I suspect many folks would strongly object to my calling it a "wildflower" rather than a "weed". Good thing I don't care about a pristine lawn: I can just enjoy this cheerful tiny flower.