Flora of New Zealand Series

pearlwort

Annual. Stems ascending or rarely decumbent, filiform, glabrous or hairy, (1)-2-8-(15) cm tall; axillary fascicles of lvs 0; adventitious roots 0. Rosette lvs short-lived. Cauline lvs linear, hyaline with long cilia at base, very rarely glabrous, aristate at apex, 1-10-(12) × 0.2-0.5 mm; upper lvs becoming subulate. Fls small, 4-(5)-merous, often very numerous. Pedicels with glandular hairs or glabrous, 3-15 mm long. Sepals obtuse or acute, 1-2 × 0.5-1 mm, glabrous or with glandular hairs; hyaline margins often purplish, sometimes green. Petals 0, very rarely minute. Stamens 4-(5). Capsule ovoid, slightly > calyx; styles and valves 4-(5). Seeds brown, triangular-ovoid, papillate, 0.3-0.4 mm long.

N.: Northland, Auckland, Taranaki, Bay of Plenty, Wanganui, Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, Wellington; S.: Marlborough, Canterbury, Otago, Southland.

Eurasia 1867

Waste land, railway yards, riverbeds, roadsides, depleted pastures.

FL Sep-Nov-(Jan) FT (Sep)- Oct-Feb-(Mar).

Specimens of S. apetala have sometimes been referred to in N.Z. as S. ciliata and S. filicaulis. Colobanthus caespitosus Colenso, originally treated as a native sp., is based on specimens of S. apetala.