Flora of New Zealand Series

sneezeweed

Procumbent, slender, aromatic, glabrous or sparsely hairy annual. Stems terete, much-branched from base and above, (3)-5-25 cm long. Lvs glandular, oblong, elliptic-oblong to spathulate, acute to obtuse, narrowed to base but petiole usually indistinct, sometimes slightly amplexicaul, entire or with few coarse teeth, 3-15-(20) mm long. Capitula usually sessile, sometimes shortly pedunculate, usually solitary, rarely appearing paired, 2-4-(5) mm diam.; florets 30-numerous; ♀ florets in 2-4 rows. Achenes 0.8-1.4 mm long, with faces dark brown and pale brown ribs extending ± to apex.

N.: locally common, scattered localities throughout; S.: occasional in Marlborough, Nelson, Westland and Canterbury.

Also indigenous from Australia to Asia and Afghanistan.

Margins of lakes, ponds and streams, swamps and waste places.

FL Nov-Apr.

C. minima is treated here as indigenous although its status is doubtful. The sp. has for a long time been confused in N.Z. with C. cunninghamii, although the 2 spp. can usually be distinguished by several characters.