Flora of New Zealand Series

Annual, puberulent and glandular-scaly herb. Stems branching, decumbent, 3-10-(20) cm long, often forming a small flat cushion. Petioles usually 1-3-(5) mm long, slender. Lamina 2-4-(10) × 2-4-(10) mm, suborbicular, broadly ovate or ovate-oblong, glandular-puberulent on both sides, usually entire or slightly sinuate, occasionally shallowly lobed; base broad-cuneate to rounded; apex obtuse. Fls minute, in axillary, sessile glomerules. Perianth segments (3)-4-(5), narrow-oblong, membranous at least on margins, glandular- puberulent and farinose, scarcely accrescent, not completely investing fr. Stamen usually 1. Seed vertical, 0.5-0.8 mm long, laterally compressed, broadly ellipsoid or subglobose, flattened; pericarp easily detached; testa glossy, minutely punctate or almost smooth.

N.: shores of East Coast and Lake Taupo; S.: 41° 30' to 43° 30' E. of the Main Divide.

Endemic.

Open sandy and stony places, usually in cultivated or modified ground, coastal to lower montane regions, usually rare and local.

FL Dec-Feb.

C. pusillum may appear similar to depauperate plants of C. pumilio but the latter usually differs in its much smaller size and almost entire, rounder lvs.

C. pusillum is considered endemic to N.Z., although it usually occurs in modified habitats such as roadsides and railway yards. A form of C. pumilio which occurs in Australia but probably not in N.Z. is very similar to C. pusillum - it has small, entire to sinuate, broadly ovate to suborbicular lvs [Black, J. M., Fl. of S. Australia ed. 2 (1948)].