Flora of New Zealand Series

prickly Moses

Shrub to small tree; twigs ribbed, sparsely to densely hairy. Lvs reduced to phyllodes, mostly verticillate; phyllodes ± glabrous or ciliate about veins and margins, linear to elliptic, usually slightly asymmetric, acute and long-mucronate, entire, 6-17 × (0.5)-1-3-(4) mm, with one prominent vein and often 1-2 less prominent veins; stipules linear to triangular, mucronate, 1-2 mm long, not always conspicuous in mature plants. Fls 4-merous, pale yellow, solitary but concentrated in axillary cylindric spikes; spikes > lvs. Pod sparsely hairy, becoming ± glabrous when mature, ± straight or slightly curved, 50-100 × 2-4 mm; aril folded, somewhat thickened at base of seed.

N.: common in Bay of Plenty and N. of Waikato, also recorded from near Lepperton (Taranaki), Palmerston North, and Levin; S.: Barry's Bay (Banks Peninsula), and locally abundant near Westport.

S.E. Australia, Tasmania 1948

Waste places, scrubland.

FL Sep-Nov.

Prickly Moses is grown as a garden shrub or used as a hedging plant, and has undoubtedly become naturalised from these plantings. The sp. is very variable in Australia; most naturalised N.Z. material fits descriptions of R. verticillatum var. latifolia Pedley with rather broader phyllodes [(1)-1.5-2.5-(4) mm] than the typical var. The commonly grown cv. 'Rewa' has longer phyllodes, only 0.5-1 mm wide, and has been collected wild only once, from a footpath in Riccarton (Christchurch).