Paronychia chartacea is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names papery Whitlow-wort and paper nailwort.

[3] This plant grows in small openings in the Florida scrub, where it is an early successional species, likely increasing in number after wildfire clears an overgrown area.

chartacea, occurs in open areas dominated by rosemary and sand pine, sometimes colonizing recently disturbed habitat.

Other plants and lichens in the area include Bonamia grandiflora, Hypericum cumulicola, Polygonella basaramia, Cladonia perforata, Eryngium cuneifolium, and Liatris ohlingerae.

[2] Though limited in distribution and threatened by the loss of its natural ecosystem, the plant can be locally common in fragments of remaining habitat.

Some remaining scrub is managed properly to prevent this succession, and it is here that rare herbs such as the nailwort persist.

[1] It is one of many rare local endemic plants that survive on the Lake Wales Ridge, part of which is protected and stewarded.