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Forbs
Modiola caroliniana - University of California
Modiola caroliniana - USDA PLANTS Database
Modiola caroliniana - News from Rockcliff Farm
I first discovered this plant on April 15, 2014, but wasn't able to identify it until April 9, 2017. It is yet another global invasive plant, and a perennial. It lives, and is spreading, in both the front and back yards. Before the meyer lemon died, bristle mallow covered about a third of its round bed, and it is spreading on the east side of the driveway, just in front of the hedges.
I haven't caught a glimpse of the flower in bloom, but I did photograph a closed flower with my 20x clip-on phone lens. The plant is dioecious, with male and female organs on different plants.
Once the female plant is fertilized, it produces discs (schizocarps) composed of about 16 (not always the same number) sections (mericarps), arranged like slices of a cake.
The schizocarp soon dries and turns black.
Eventually, the schizocarp breaks apart and its mericarps (slice-like seed containers) fall to the ground.
