When you look closely at the grasses of Booyong you’ll discover a variety of tiny native herbaceous flowers. This little white one is commonly known as Whiteroot, it’s a glabrous herb (smooth and free from hair) and is dioecious (meaning it has distinct male and female individual organisms) with a scientic name of Pratia Purpurascens.

Whiteroot is a perennial ground covering rhizome which grows horizontally and sends out shoots to grow upward from its nodes. This plant can also spread via seeds and can grow 15cm in height. It has toothed leaves which are green on the top and tinged purple underneath. Flowers appear from Spring to Autumn and are mostly white with shades of pink or lavender.

Whiteroot grows in moist, shady areas of Eastern Australia.

Take your time to really look around you when you walk through the grasses of Booyong, you’ll be truly amazed at what you find!