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Seen as either a terrible pest or an attractive ground cover, Mexican clover often carpets Florida's front lawns and roadsides. At least four species of this plant are found here. Although not true clovers, Mexican clovers prove similar, with their whitish flowers and ground-hugging habits. It is also called "pusley," an old term that refers to several unrelated, spreading, ground-hugging plants such as purslane. "As mean as pusley" was a derogatory phrase referring to purslane's habit of bullying other plants out of the way. Mexican clover shows the same propensity; the hairy, multibranching stems seize any bit of bare ground to drop roots, and rapidly fill bare spots in South Florida lawns.

Known by the genus name Richardia, Mexican clover has funnel-shaped flowers with pointed petal extensions that close at night and under overcast skies, but open to the sun for pollination.

-Jerome A. Jackson, Florida Gulf Coast University