It is a 1-4 inch (2–10 cm) perennial herb in the primula family (Primulaceae). A cosmopolitan species, this small plant is native widely across North America and Eurasia. It can be found growing in moist soils and seasonal pools.Fruit is a round capsule about 2 mm in diameter, containing 5 to 13 tiny brown seeds.
Chaffweed, also known as Anagallis minima in the Primulaceae (primrose) family, is a circumpolar species and native to much of North America. It is common throughout much of California, the south central Great Plains and into central Florida. It is rare, however, across the entire northern tier of the US and Canada and has previously been reported only once in Minnesota, in Big Stone county back in 1901. It was relegated to Minnesota's list of “historical” plant species by the Minnesota DNR in their rare species update of 2013. However, this past summer (2013) on one of our photographic field trips we discovered large populations at Morton Outcrop SNA in Renville county. Obviously back on the state's active plant species list, its status is yet to be determined. Its habitat is typically described as sandy or muddy soil that is prone to temporary standing water, such as pond edges and low ground in old fields, so the vernal pools in Minnesota's rock outcrops seem ideal habitat.
