Leptinella maniototo

Detailed description

Monoecious, inconspicuous, perennial or annual herb forming loose patches or low matted turfs around tarn, lake, seepage or stream margins. Rhizomes at or near soil surface, slender up to 1 mm diameter, usually hidden within leaves, initially somewhat villous, maturing wiry and glabrous; branches similar to short shoots; leaves crowded, in two rows, more or less horizontal with up to 10 clustered at apex, imbricate ot spaced up to 4 mm apart; short shoots at nodes, initially bearing a few reduced leaves, often converting to rhizomes with distant leaves. Sometimes short shoots forming small bulbil like turions, these shedding, givign rise to further plants. Roots numerous, slender, up to 0.5 mm diameter, white. Leaves variable, 2–25 × 2 mm long grass-green to purple-red; blade up to 20 mm long, 1-pinnatifid, lanceolate or oblong, or during winter (or sometimes during summer) simple, linear and 0.5 mm wide, membranous, glabrous or covered in dense to sparse silky white villous hairs; midrib not raised on ventral surface; pinnae 0, or as 1-2 minute lobes, or as up to 6 distinct pairs, distant, subequal, shorter than terminal lobe, linear, much narrower than rhachis, edentate. Peduncles very short up to 1 mm long, ebracteate. Capitula subsessile, 2–3 mm diameter; surface convex; involucre campanulate; phyllaries 10, subequally uni- or biseriate, green or purple-red, oblong, membranous, sparsely to densely villous, with a wide brown, reddish-brown or purple-green scarious margin; pistillate florets 15–20 in 1–2 rows, 2 mm long, straight, pale yellow and red-tipped; corolla 4× as long as wide, dentition equal; staminate florets equal in number. Cypsela 1 × 0.3 mm, initially green maturing chocolate brown, biconvex, slightly compressed, soft and unwrinkled.