Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Muehlenbeckia tuggeranong
Tuggeranong lignum
Polygonaceae
Shrubby woodland on a river bank among rocks and weeds. ACT along the Murrumbidgee River.
Shrub, sprawling, becoming a loosely tangled wiry mass to 1 m high, 1–2 m wide. Stems wiry, brown, weakly grooved. Leaves alternating along the stems, 0.5–1.3 cm long, 2–4 mm wide, not glaucous, often with the base expanded on one or both sides. Male and female flowers on different plants. Flowers cream with greenish tinges, 4–5 mm in diameter, with 5 'petals', free almost to the base, in clusters of 3–9 flowers mainly at the ends of the stems. Only one female plant ever found. It has not been seen for some years despite extensive searches. Flowers Spring to Summer.
Endangered Australia. Endangered ACT. All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Muehlenbeckia~tuggeranong (accessed 24 January, 2021)
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