Flora of New Zealand Series

Sprawling or low scrambling herb, often forming dense mounds; young parts farinose. Stems wiry, angled, often intertwining, sometimes to c. 1 m long. Lvs with petioles to 10 mm long, slender, alternate or opposite. Lamina 8-30 × 3-20-(25) mm, mostly hastate or narrow-triangular, but otherwise entire, green or somewhat glaucescent; apex ± acute; upper lvs becoming lanceolate with cuneate base. Fls in short terminal and axillary spikes; each glomerule subtended by a small linear-subulate bract. Perianth segments c. 0.5 mm long, broad-elliptic, green with narrow membranous margin, becoming c. 1-1.5 mm long, crimson, and ± succulent at fruiting. Stamens 1-3. Fr. 2.5-3 mm diam.; pericarp globular or nearly so, crimson, fleshy. Seed c. 1.2 mm diam., circular, flattened, shining, black, striated.

S.: N. Otago (Oamaru, Herbert and Kakanui areas).

Temperate and subtropical Australia 1959

Coastal areas on beach sand, waste land, in scrub, plantations and other modified habitats.

FL Nov-Mar.

The mound-forming and sometimes almost climbing habit, as well as the much narrower lvs, distinguish E. nutans from the indigenous E. triandra which occurs in the same area. E. nutans has been previously recorded in N.Z. as Rhagodia nutans.