Flora of New Zealand Series

Erect, branched annual 0.5-3 m tall, farinose, at least when young and on lower surface of lvs, non-aromatic. Petiole 1-2× lamina, slender; lamina on flowering branches to 3 × 2 cm, broad-ovate, rhombic-ovate, slightly 3-lobed at base, green above, grey-farinose below, irregularly serrate-dentate; base ± cuneate; apex often obtuse; upper lvs narrower, entire. Infls narrow-paniculate, terminal and axillary, grey-farinose, leafless in uppermost part; glomerules small, c. 3 mm diam., very numerous and densely arranged. Perianth segments 0.5-1 mm long at anthesis, accrescent, somewhat imbricate; keel ± obtuse, green; margin broadly hyaline. Fr. almost completely invested by perianth; pericarp easily removed. Seed horizontal, 1.1-1.3 mm diam., circular, flattened; margin obtuse; testa glossy black, with rather faint longitudinal striations.

N.: Tauranga and Opotiki (Bay of Plenty); S.: Blenheim, Alexandra.

S. Europe, temperate Asia, N. Africa 1983

Rare, waste ground, well-drained shingly soil.

FL Jan-Mar.

C. opulifolium is fairly distinct among the members of the C. album group found in N.Z.; it is distinguished by the size of the plant, the relatively small, broad lvs usually with a basal lobe on each side, and the large, dense infls of small glomerules. As in C. ficifolium, but unlike C. album, this sp. commonly has ± lobed lvs.