Flora of New Zealand Series

whitlow grass

Short-lived herb with small rosette and often reddish leafless flowering stems, (2)-4-8-(25) cm tall. Lvs narrowly to broadly oblanceolate, toothed at tip or entire, 2-15 × 1-10 mm; hairs dense, mostly branched. Sepals hairy, 1-1.5 × 0.5-0.8 mm. Petals 1.5-2 × 0.7-1 mm. Stamens level with stigma. Silicle erecto-patent, flattened, narrowly obovate, glabrous, pale brown or reddish, 3-10 × 1-2.5 mm; pedicel erecto-patent, 5-18 mm long. Seeds brown, 0.4-0.6 mm long.

S.: Marlborough, Canterbury, C. Otago.

Eurasia, N. Africa 1899

Dry waste land, railway yards, arable fields, riverbeds, grassland, especially in fine soil.

This sp. has also been referred to in N.Z. as E. vulgaris and as Draba verna.