An odd looking flower

This is a pretty little flower that is fairly common in Southeast Missouri. It may be found growing at the edges of a garden or flowerbed. It can establish itself, reseed and come up year after year. This flower is called a dayflower because the individual flowers usually last only one day.

The dayflower is native to Eastern Asia. It has been introduced into Eastern Europe and Eastern North America for reasons that are unclear. The dayflower is very tender and easy to pull because it has a shallow root system. Each flower can produce one or two tiny seeds.

I found this dayflower blooming in late August beside a garden. A dark rotten tree stump provided a nice backdrop.