Flora of New Zealand Series

Semi-erect, robust, scrambling shrub; primocanes low-arching and sometimes almost procumbent, purplish, sharply angled and flat to slightly concave between, with many subsessile glands and sparsely clothed in simple and stellate hairs; armature of many, stout, erect prickles on angles. Young stems moderately to densely hairy and glandular. Leaflets 5, sometimes the basal pairs fused, almost glabrous to sparsely pilose on upper surface, pilose on veins and lacking tomentum on lower surface, serrate-dentate; terminal leaflet lamina elliptic to obovate, acuminate, 70-110 × 40-70 mm, with petiolule c. 1/4-1/2 length of lamina. Stipules linear to narrow-lanceolate. Infl. densely hairy, with subsessile glands. Sepals acuminate, tomentose and with longer simple hairs, without pricklets. Petals rounded to notched, smooth or slightly crinkled, pale pink. Anthers usually glabrous.

N.: Waikato Valley; S.: common in Nelson, local in Marlborough, Westland and Otago.

Europe 1899

Roadsides, forest and scrub margins, riverbanks.

FL Nov-Feb.

In this sp. the upper lvs of the flowering stems are densely tomentose on the lower surface whereas the mature primocane lvs are only pilose. R. cissburiensis is similar to R. polyanthemus but lacks stalked glands in the infl. and pricklets on the sepals. It was originally recorded from Nelson as R. macrophyllus var. schlechtendahlii.

A common hybrid in the North Id, R. cissburiensis × R. ulmifolius, is treated in full below.