My new camera gave me a really close look at this tiny flower. The flower is less than two millimeter long, and the whole cluster that you see above is certainly less than a centimeter across. I was very happy to find that the camera can catch such tiny details. That lovely macro lens and the waterproof body makes it an ideal compact to take with me on monsoon walks. The flower is unusual; I haven’t seen many green flowers.
Focus stacking is an immense help in the field. You take one photo, and your camera catches lots of things around it in beautiful focus. I was fixated on the featured photo, but the camera also gave me part of the surroundings. The stalk and the placement of the flower, the shapes of leaves, everything helps to identify it. It is very likely to be the sessile joyweed (Alternanthera sessilis). Although its present range seems to include most of the world, it is said to originate in the West Indies. So I don’t know who gave it the Sanskrit name Mastyakshi, which means fish-eyed. It was definitely a late naming, because by then the different Indian languages had evolved many different names for the plant. I’m surprised to find that it is edible, and it is even sold in markets in Sri Lanka!
Don't hold your breath 