In North America, this widely scattered diploid (2n = 14) winter annual (flowering mostly Mar-Apr in Ky.) appears to have been virtually unknown before Pennell (1935; see also F), appearing first on ballast at ports. All Ky. records of polita date from after 1970. It is easily confused with agrestis or persica, and colls. from Ky. deserve to be rechecked (Abbott et al. 2004). The three species occur in similar habitats: lawns and other frequently disturbed low vegetation, usually in sun and on more or less eutrophic soils. Another related species to be expected is V. filiformis Sm.. from eastern Europe and now naturalized in northern staes and adjacent Canada (K, W). It differs from polita, agrestis and persica as follows: creeping perennial, rooting at nodes (versus spreading to ascending winter-annual, not rootng at nodes); leaves usually suborbicular with subcordate base (versus deltoid to ovate, truncate to cuneate), usually with 7-9 shallow to obscure teeth (versus 3-7 distinct teeth); pedicels usually at least twice as long as leaves (versus 1-2 times); A tentatively reported coll. of filiformis from JEFF (R. Alford #4307 at EMC) was based on misidentified persica,