Common name: Mite Cress, Muskweed
Myagrum perfoliatum L. APNI* Description: Annual herb, 15–100 cm tall, erect, glabrous and glaucous.
Basal leaves oblanceolate, sagittate, pinnatifid to sinuate-dentate, petiolate; cauline leaves oblong-lanceolate, stem clasping, denticulate to entire, sessile.
Inflorescence an elongating raceme. Sepals 3 mm long, erect, the lateral ones slightly saccate. Petals 3–5 mm long, yellow. Stamens 6. Style short.
Fruit club-shaped, 6–8 mm long, 5 mm wide, slightly compressed, 3-locular; upper two locules (shoulders of fruit) empty, between mesocarp and exocarp; lower locule with 1, rarely 2, pendulous seed(s); surface ridged and slightly tuberculate-rugose; pedicels appressed, 4–5.5 mm long, 2 mm thick. Seeds ovoid, 3 mm long.
Flowering: Flowers spring.
Distribution and occurrence: Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia. Also naturalised in Queensland, South Australia and Victoria. It is a declared noxious weed in Victoria.
NSW subdivisions: *NWS
Other Australian states: *Qld *Vic. *S.A.
Common name is Musk Weed.
Text by B.M. Wiecek Taxon concept: Flora of Australia, Vol. 8, 1982:298 and Flora of Victoria Vol 3, 1996:429
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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