Piri piri burr - Acaena novae-zelandiae

A prostrate dwarf plant which can produce dense mats of leaves and ball-like heads of spiny, hooked seeds (burs).

Bare ground including sand dunes, cliffs, heaths, conifer plantations on sandy soils, old gravel workings, roadsides and disused railways.

In flower during June, July and August.

Perennial herb. Reproduction is from seed, and sometimes from pieces of rooted stolon. Recognised as an alien and invasive threat to some habitats where it forms dense mats of growth that suppress native species.

Occasional but widespread in Britain.

First VC55 record came from Leicester in 2010 but it is likely to become more frequent in our area.