Muehlenbeckia
Pl. Vasc. Gen. 1: 316.
2: 227. 1841.
| Taxon | Illustrator ⠉ | |
|---|---|---|
 | Muehlenbeckia complexa Emex australis Rheum rhabarbarum | Bee F. Gunn Bee F. Gunn Yevonn Wilson-Ramsey |
Shrubs, vinelike, perennial; rhizomatous. Stems suberect, prostrate, or scandent, glabrous or puberulent, sometimes papillose. Leaves deciduous, cauline, alternate, usually petiolate; ocrea usually deciduous, sometimes persistent, chartaceous; petiole base articulated, extrafloral nectaries present; blade linear to orbiculate, panduriform, or triangular-lanceolate, margins entire or irregularly wavy. Inflorescences terminal and axillary, spikelike, essentially not pedunculate. Pedicels prescent. Flowers bisexual and unisexual, with staminate, pistillate, or sometimes both sexes occurring with bisexual flowers on the same plant, 1–2 (–5) per ocreate fascicle, base stipelike; perianth accrescent, white to greenish white, campanulate, glabrous; tepals 5, connate proximally, sepaloid, dimorphic, outer slightly larger than inner. Staminate flowers: stamens 8 (9); filaments distinct, adnate to base of perianth-tube, glabrous; anthers yellow or pink to purple, ovate to elliptic; pistil rudimentary. Pistillate flowers: tube white or reddish purple to black in fruit, becoming fleshy; stamens rudimentary; styles 3, spreading, connate proximally; stigmas fimbriate. Achenes completely or partly included in fleshy perianth, black or dark-brown, unwinged, 3-gonous to subglobose, glabrous. Seeds: embryo straight. x = 10.
Distribution
Introduced; Central America, South America, Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia
Discussion
species 23 (2 in the flora)
Selected References
Lower Taxa
Key
| 1 | Tubes of pistillate flowers white in fruit; distal branches of stems brownish-puberulent; leaf blades ovate-oblong to suborbiculate or panduriform | Muehlenbeckia complexa |
| 1 | Tubes of pistillate flowers reddish purple to black in fruit; distal branches of stems glabrous; leaf blades triangular-lanceolate | Muehlenbeckia hastulata |
"/2" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.