Myriophyllum implicatum Orchard APNI*
Description: Creeping, matted herb, fully emergent; stems up to 0.5 mm diam., prostrate parts rooting freely at the nodes.
Leaves alternate, linear, 2.5–5 mm long, entire.
Plants dioecious, flowers solitary in the axils. Male flowers very shortly pedicellate; sepals absent or minute; petals 2–2.5 mm long, cream to red. Female flowers sessile; sepals and petals absent; stigmas white. Mericarps cylindrical, up to 1 mm long, reddish purple, strongly papillose.
Mericarps cylindrical, up to 1 mm long, reddish purple, strongly papillose in 3–5 irregular rows.
Distribution and occurrence: in coastal situations on freshwater seepage areas on the North Coast, and more recently found in inland wetlands in the Pilliga area. The "tank gilgai" or ephemeral wetlands of the Pilliga outwash that provide habitat for M. implicatum are described by J.S. Benson et al., Cunninghamia 11(4): 457–579 (2010) and D.M. Bell et al., Cunninghamia 12(3): 181-190 (2012).
NSW subdivisions: ?NC, NWP
Other Australian states: Qld
Threatened species: NSW BCA: Critically Endangered
Was considered possibly extinct in N.S.W. till collected in 2008 during a vegetation survey in the Pilliga region.
Text by Peter G. Wilson (edited by P.G. Kodela & P.G. Wilson, April 2009; last updated March 2024) Taxon concept: A.E. Orchard, Flora of Australia Volume 18 (1990)
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