Sanguisorba minor Scop.
(D.R.G., C.J.W.)
Herb with branching rhizomes; stems ± erect, up to 35-(70) cm tall at flowering, glabrous to sparingly pilose, sparingly branched, greenish yellow to purplish, grooved. Lower lvs in basal rosettes; petiole short; blade oblong to narrowly oblanceolate, up to 150-(300) × 45 mm, imparipinnate; leaflets in (5)-7-10-(12) pairs, shortly petiolulate or subsessile, narrowly obovate to elliptic or orbicular, 5-12-(30) mm long, glabrous above, sparsely finely puberulent and often with a few longer hairs on veins beneath, deeply serrate, sometimes purplish especially towards margins or pale to ± glaucous below. Cauline lvs few, similar to basal lvs but with fewer and narrower leaflets. Infl. a dense globose head, elongating somewhat at fruiting. Sepals ovate-oblong, (2)-3-4 mm long, free, ± emarginate with a small cusp, green; margins whitish or pink to purple. Stamens numerous. Hypanthium usually broadly ellipsoid, rarely ellipsoid at fruiting, glabrous, almost glabrous or pubescent, (2)-4-5 mm long, usually sharply angled and winged, rarely obscurely winged; faces usually reticulate and the ridges with small projections, rarely faintly reticulate.
Key
FL Oct-Apr FT Nov-May.
S. minor is a very variable sp. interpreted in a broad sense to include several subspp. sometimes treated as separate sp. Two subspp. are found in N.Z.; the fruiting hypanthium provides principal distinguishing characters. S. minor may have entered N.Z. as a seed contaminant.
