Flora of New Zealand Series

Curnow's curse

Taprooted annual herb. Stems 1-many, suberect or ascending, glabrous, often reddish, 10-40 cm tall. Rosette lvs linear-obovate, obtuse, ciliate, 30-50-(100) × 1.5-2-(5) mm, tapering gradually to subsheathing base; stem lvs similar, the uppermost becoming sessile, acute. Infl. terminal, racemose; bracts leaflike; pedicels erect, sparsely hairy, 3-15 mm long. Sepals broadly triangular, acute, keeled at apex, truncate to hastate and connate at base, ciliate and hairy near base, (4)-6-8-(10) × (4)-6-8-(10) mm. Petals 5, purple, 7-10 mm long. Stamens (5)-10; anthers yellow; filaments magenta. Stigmas 3, purple. Capsule ovoid, c. = sepals, dehiscing by 3 valves. Seeds ovoid-flattened, black, smooth, shiny, 1-1.5 mm long.

N.: Auckland, Bay of Plenty; S.: Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury.

S. America 1968

Cultivated land, riverbeds, waste land, often in sandy soils.

FL Oct-Mar FT Oct-May.