Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

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Muehlenbeckia rhyticarya

Common name

Wrinkle-nut lignum

Family

Polygonaceae

Where found

Forest, rocky slopes, and near streams. Coast and ranges.

Notes

Shrub to about 2 m high or sprawling. Perianth occasionally fleshy. Glaucous. Stems smooth or finely striate. Leaves alternating up the stems, 2–12 cm long 20–120 mm wide, strongly glaucous, margins flat or slightly wavy, usually not frilly, tips blunt to rounded, sometimes shallowly notched, bases cordate. Male and female flowers on different plants. Flowers yellow-green, with 5 'petals', each 2–4 mm long, free from each other almost to the base, female flowers elongating to about 6 mm long at the seeding stage but usually remaining membranous. Flowers in interrupted, spike-like or branched clusters 3–20 cm long. Flowers mostly Sep.–Jan. Nuts triangular in cross section, 3–6 mm long, black, more or less dull, strongly transversely wrinkled.

Rare Vic.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Muehlenbeckia~rhyticarya  (accessed 24 January, 2021)