Flora of New Zealand Series

Short-stemmed, hairy, annual herbs; branches often ± decumbent. Lvs mostly cauline, 3-partite, with each segment usually divided into several lobes; stipules broad, clasping, 5-7-lobed, adnate to petiole, persistent. Infl. of numerous, axillary, 5-15-flowered cymes forming glomerules, < to slightly > stipules. Fls 4-5-merous, small, greenish to yellowish, subsessile or pedicellate, ⚥. Hypanthium urceolate to turbinate. Epicalyx present or 0. Calyx with 4-5, triangular sepals. Petals 0. Stamens 1-(2), inserted on inner margin of hypanthium disc. Ovary superior, surrounded by the deep hypanthium; carpel 1; style 1; ovule 1. Fr. a single achene enclosed in the thin, dry hypanthium.

c. 20 spp., almost cosmopolitan. Naturalised spp. 3.

Aphanes is closely related to Alchemilla and has sometimes been included in that genus. Some spp., including those described below, closely resemble Soliva spp. (Asteraceae) and Ceratocephalus (Ranunculaceae), and may occur in rather similar habitats. The spp. described are very similar and can be difficult to distinguish in the absence of well-developed fr. (Fig. 98).

Fig. 98. Fruiting hypanthium of Aphanes. A A. arvensis; B A. australiana; C A. inexspectata. © All rights reserved. [Image: 4X6S]