Coming from the southern hemisphere, these plants make mats of trailing stems, with small, rounded, serrated leaves, usually in interesting colours - grey-green, bronze or purplish. The flowers are on short upright stems, and are followed by the hooked seeds, which attach themselves to anything passing by.

Acaena inermis 'Purpurea' makes mats of amethyst foliage, which turn bright red if they are exposed to full sun. The flowers are creamy white, and the seeds do not have the little barbs that are usual in this genus, so it is less likely to spread spontaneously.