Flora of New Zealand Series

Evergreen woody climber. Lvs glabrous or sparsely hairy, 3-foliolate, (2.3)-5.5-9 × (1.8)-4.5-8-(12) cm; leaflets thinly coriaceous, ovate, obtuse to acute; margins entire to sinuate, rarely crenately lobed or serrate; petiole hairy, 1.5-5-(9) cm long. Fls unisexual, in axillary dichasial cymes, strongly scented. Bracts paired, united, inserted about middle of pedicel. ♂ fls: sepals (5)-6-(8), imbricate, yellow, glabrous above, pilose beneath, ovate-oblong, 6-12-(23) × 2-5-(7) mm; anthers 0.8-1.5 mm long; filaments glabrous. ♀ fls: sepals 5-8, imbricate, yellow, glabrous above, pilose beneath, ovate, 6-11 × 3-5 mm; staminodes few. Achenes hairy, 2-4 mm long. Style 1.4-3 cm long at fruiting.

N.: throughout except Taranaki; S.: Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury, E. Otago.

Endemic.

Lowland forests, especially forest margins.

FL Sep-Nov FT Nov-Jan.