Lens culinaris
ζ*Lens culinaris Medikus ζ*, lentil, has been collected only once (CHR 78762, Mangaroa, Upper Hutt, Healy 50/364, 10.11.1950, from a cinder mound in a railway dump. A scrambling annual; stems not winged. Lvs pinnate, tendrilous, with 3-8 pairs of leaflets. Fls 1-2-(3) per infl., lilac and white with darker markings. Calyx teeth equal, 2-6× as long as tube. Pod dehiscent, 1-2-seeded. N.Z. material can be referred to the type subsp. Earlier references to lentil naturalised in N.Z. are based on misidentification of Vicia disperma from which lentil is distinguished by the simple tendrils, and equal-length calyx teeth which are much > tube. (Origin uncertain, 1957).
