Flora of New Zealand Series

Dioecious perennial. Stems decumbent to erect, branching, glabrescent to densely hairy. Lvs hairy above, glabrous beneath. Rosette lvs persistent, shortly petiolate, pinnatifid to pinnate, to 2-pinnatifid, 2-7-(10) × 0.3-1.5 cm; pinnae linear to obovate, entire or narrowly lobed. Stem lvs becoming entire, lanceolate to oblong to obovate to linear, 2-15 × 1-3 mm. Racemes 2-5-(10) cm long at fruiting; rachis hairy; pedicels hairy, spreading, 4-6 mm long at fruiting. Sepals sparsely hairy, 1-1.5 × 0.5-1 mm. Petals either 0, or white, obovoid, up to 2 mm long. ♂ fls with 4 or 6 stamens and rudimentary ovary. ♀ fls with 4 abortive stamens and developed ovary. Silicles ovate to rhomboid, 3-5 × 2-3.5 mm; style 0.2-0.3 mm long, free from narrow wing, slightly exceeding shallow notch; valves with scattered flexuous hairs or almost glabrous. Seeds ovoid, brown, not winged, 1.5-2 mm long.

S.: Canterbury, C. Otago.

Endemic

Dry stony terraces and limestone debris throughout ( subsp. sisymbrioides); depleted tussock grassland and bare hillsides near Alexandra ( subsp. matau (Petrie) Thell.); rock outcrops in Kawarau Gorge and Manuherikia Gorge ( subsp. kawarau (Petrie) Thell.).

L. sisymbrioides is the only sp. in the Brassicaceae known to be dioecious. The 3 subspp. were treated at sp. rank by Allan (1961).