Flora of New Zealand Series

Glabrous herb 1-12-(20) cm tall; rootstock long, stout, often branched above. Lvs in clusters, with flattened petioles to 6 cm long. Lamina (1)-2-9-(12) × (0.5)-1-3-(5) cm, narrow-oblong, oblong, or oblong-elliptic; margins subcrenate to sinuate; base cuneate to truncate; apex rounded to obtuse. Ochreae prominent, long. Infl. lvs narrower, decreasing in size upwards. Infl. of dense axillary clusters of up to c. 16 ⚥ fls; axes 1-2-branched, short, stout; pedicels short or very short, glabrous. Outer perianth segments ± 2 mm long, oblong, remaining forward pointing at fruiting; inner segments ovate-lanceolate. Fr. valves c. 2.2-2.5 mm long, pale brown; margins entire or with a tooth or lobe; valves with an elongated tubercle. Fr. sharply angled, tightly invested by thickened perianth.

N.; S.; St.; Ch., A., Ant., C.: from shores of Cook Strait S.

Endemic.

Gravelly and sandy beaches, coastal turf and coastal banks.

FL Nov-Apr.

R. neglectus has several very distinctive features amongst spp. of the genus in N.Z. and is not closely related to any other sp. in Australasia. Notable are the small simple fl. spikes with short, rather stout pedicels jointed near the apex and not below 1/2 way (and often not deflexed at fruiting), as well as the tubular, thickened perianth which tightly invests the fr.