Syst. Nat., edn 10, 2: 1268 (1759) APNI
Taxonomic status:Accepted
Occurrence status:Present
Establishment means:Naturalised
Variable, decumbent to erect annual to c. 80 cm high (commonly detaching near ground level at maturity and dispersing as a tumbleweed). Stems whitish (often turning red at maturity), glabrous or glabrescent. Leaves shortly petiolate to subsessile, ovate to obovate, lamina 5–20(–50) mm long, 2–10(–20) mm wide; margin often undulate; apex usually shortly mucronate. Flowers in axillary cymose clusters c. 5 mm long, unisexual; bracts c. 3 mm long; bracteoles c. 2 mm long, spinescent; tepals 3, oblong to spathulate, 1–2 mm long, acute; stamens 3. Utricle circumsciss (rarely indehiscent), slightly exceeding perianth, abruptly tapered toward apex, finely wrinkled or blistered; seed biconvex, brown, shiny, c. 1 mm diam. Flowers mainly Jan.–Apr.
*CVU, *EGL, *EGU, *GipP, *Gold, *HNF, *HSF, *MuF, *MuM, *NIS, *OtP, *VRiv, *VVP, *Wim. Also naturalised WA, SA, NSW. Native to southern North America. A common weed of streambanks, roadsides, railway-lines (common in Melbourne), and waste ground, chiefly in warmer parts of the State, but sometimes coastal or fringing salt lakes in the south (e.g. French Is., Port Phillip, Lake Corangamite).
Very rarely, the ripe utricles are indehiscent (noted in specimens from Barmah Forest and Springhurst), but plants exhibiting this abnormal feature are otherwise quite typical.
Bioregion | Occurrence status | Establishment means | |
---|---|---|---|
Murray Mallee | present | naturalised | |
Wimmera | present | naturalised | |
Victorian Volcanic Plain | present | naturalised | |
Victorian Riverina | present | naturalised | |
Murray Fans | present | naturalised | |
Gippsland Plain | present | naturalised | |
Otway Plain | present | naturalised | |
Goldfields | present | naturalised | |
Central Victorian Uplands | present | naturalised | |
Northern Inland Slopes | present | naturalised | |
East Gippsland Lowlands | present | naturalised | |
East Gippsland Uplands | present | naturalised | |
Highlands-Southern Fall | present | naturalised | |
Highlands-Northern Fall | present | naturalised |
State |
---|
Western Australia |
South Australia |
Queensland |
New South Wales |
Australian Capital Territory |
Victoria |
Tasmania |