Scleranthus annuusL.

German knotgrassGerman knotweedGerman mossannual knawel

WFO wfo-0000441933 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Scleranthus annuus, photographed by Craig Martin
fig. a Craig Martin, CC0 1.0 / 2022-06-12 / obs. 205578436
Scleranthus annuus, photographed by Grzegorz Grzejszczak
fig. b Grzegorz Grzejszczak, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 205488321
Scleranthus annuus, photographed by Dilrukshan Priyantha Wijesinghe
fig. c Dilrukshan Priyantha Wijesinghe, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203683354
Scleranthus annuus, photographed by Марина Садыкова
fig. d Марина Садыкова, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203262819
Scleranthus annuus, photographed by Игорь Васильев
fig. e Игорь Васильев, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 200020220
Scleranthus annuus, photographed by Dilrukshan Priyantha Wijesinghe
fig. f Dilrukshan Priyantha Wijesinghe, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 196670527
Scleranthus annuus, photographed by Силаева Татьяна Борисовна
fig. g Силаева Татьяна Борисовна, CC0 1.0 / obs. 197057717
Scleranthus annuus, photographed by Cecil Smith
fig. h Cecil Smith, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205236547

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 56 botanical countries

Regions where Scleranthus annuus is native: Algeria, Canary Is., Eritrea, Ethiopia, Madeira, Morocco, Tunisia, Cyprus, Iran, Krasnoyarsk, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, Saudi Arabia, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Albania, Austria, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine AlgeriaEritreaEthiopiaMoroccoTunisiaCyprusIranKrasnoyarskLebanon-SyriaNorth CaucasusSaudi ArabiaTadzhikistanTranscaucasusTürkiyeUzbekistanWest SiberiaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIrelandItalyKritiKrymNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSiciliaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine Canary Is.MadeiraBalearesSardegna
Native distribution of Scleranthus annuus, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baleares BAL
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Cyprus CYP ASIA-TEMPERATE
Iran IRN
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Lebanon-Syria LBS
North Caucasus NCS
Saudi Arabia SAU
Tadzhikistan TZK
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Canary Is. CNY
Eritrea ERI
Ethiopia ETH
Madeira MDR
Morocco MOR
Tunisia TUN

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 11 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Scleranthus aetnensis Strobl
  • Scleranthus annuus subsp. annuus
  • Scleranthus annuus subsp. polycarpos (L.) Thell.
  • Scleranthus collinus Hornung ex Opiz
  • Scleranthus delortii Gren.
  • Scleranthus glaucovirens Halácsy
  • Scleranthus polycarpos L.
  • Scleranthus ruscinonensis (Gillot & H.J.Coste) T.Durand & B.D.Jacks.
  • Scleranthus syvaschicus Kleopow
  • Scleranthus velebiticus Degen & Rossi
  • Scleranthus verticillatus Tausch

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.