Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Leptostigma reptans

Common name

Dwarf Nertera

Family

Rubiaceae

Where found

Shady forest and near water. South from west of Tilba Tilba. Ranges, and occasionally tablelands and coast. Kosciuszko National Park.

Notes

Perennial herb, prostrate, often mat-forming, often rooting at the nodes. Fruit somewhat fleshy. Stems to about 40 cm long, sparsely to moderately hairy. Leaves opposite each other, mostly 0.4–1.7 cm long, 2–9 mm wide, tips blunt to pointed, surfaces sparsely hairy to more or less hairless. Flowers greenish-cream, 7–12 mm long, narrowly funnel-shaped, with 4-5 lobes each 1–1.5 mm long. Calyx a 2-lobed collar. Flowers single. Flowers spring–summer. Fruit red, 2–4 mm long, crowned by persistent calyx lobes.

PlantNET description with line drawings:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Leptostigma~reptans  (accessed 23 January, 2021)