Identification notes
When growing in well-illuminated situations, this common small species forms loose carpets or soft hummocks. It’s most likely to be confused with S. capillifolium, which may grow in the same habitats but which is generally more widespread in the uplands and scarce in lowland areas.
Useful field characters to look for in S. rubellum include its habit; it grows in loose carpets or soft hummocks from which it is easy to extract single shoots by hand. Its capitula are clearly stellate and flat-topped or gently convex, and its branch leaves are ranked.
Read the Field Guide account
