Flora of New Zealand Series

Annual or biennial. Stem procumbent, sparingly branched, glabrous, (5)-7-15 cm long. Lvs glabrous; basal lvs sinuate- to lyrate-pinnatifid with rounded to obovate lateral and obovate terminal lobes; stem lvs similar, becoming simple and bluntly toothed. Sepals c. 1 × 0.5 mm, glabrous. Petals white, < to = sepals. Silicle 3-4 × c. 2 mm, obovate, truncate to retuse at apex; valves keeled, membranous; stigma small, sessile. Seeds ovoid, brown, c. 0.5 mm long, 3-10 per locule.

S.: Canterbury (near Akaroa), N. Otago coast between Oamaru and Dunedin.

Temperate N. Hemisphere 1882

Damp coastal sites.

This sp. has also been referred to in N.Z. as Capsella elliptica, C. procumbens and Hutchinsia procumbens.

H. procumbens was considered native in N.Z. by Kirk. Recent treatments regard it as introduced in S. America [Boelcke, O., Darwiniana 18 : 539-47 (1974)], Australia [Hewson, H. J., Fl. Australia 8 : 292 (1982)], southern Africa [Marais, W., Fl. Southern Africa13 : 98 (1970)] and N.Z. [Allan, 1940, 1961]. The habitats occupied in N.Z. are not dominated by naturalised plants; some are largely undisturbed.