Common name: Matted Lignum
Muehlenbeckia axillaris (Hook.f.) Endl. APNI*
Description: Straggling or prostrate low shrub, forming wiry mats to 1 m diam.; stems smooth or slightly flaky or striate, red-brown becoming grey-brown to blackish with age.
Leaves with lamina semicircular to narrow-ovate, < 1 cm long, 2–4 mm wide, apex truncate or emarginate to acute and base truncate or slightly cordate to attenuate, margins usually flat and smooth; petiole half to two-thirds as long as lamina.
Flowers solitary or 2 or 3 clustered in leaf axils. Perianth sometimes fleshy in fruit. Anthers 0.4–0.7 mm long.
Achene trigonous, 2–3 mm long, blackish, smooth.
Distribution and occurrence: Grows on rocky slopes near streams at higher altitudes.
NSW subdivisions: NT, ST
Other Australian states: Vic. Tas.
Text by K.L. Wilson Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 1 (1990)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data ***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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