compressed laterally, notched at the summit or entire, winged or not; septum narrow, membranous. Seeds one in each cell, suspended from the top of the septum; cotyledons incumbent.
A large genus of nearly 100 species, found in most temperate or warm climates. The New Zealand species are highly variable, and several are very difficult of discrimination. All are endemic.
| A. Leaves undivided; serrate, crenate, or quite entire; never pinnate or pinnatifid. | |
| Stout, erect or diffuse, 12–24 in. high. Leaves sharply serrate. Pods entire, not winged | 1. L. oleraceum. |
| Slender, flexuous, suberect, 12–18 in. Leaves spathulate, serrate above. Pods winged and notched above | 2. L. Banksii. |
| Slender, decumbent, 9–12 in. Leaves long-petioled, crenate. Pods ovate, winged and notched above | 3. L. obtusatum. |
| Stems prostrate, filiform, 2–5 in. Leaves linear-spathulate, ⅓–1 in., entire. Pods ovate-orbicular, notched | 4. L. Kirkii. |
| | |
| B. Lower leaves pinnate or pinnatifid. | |
| * Flowers hermaphrodite. | |
| Procumbent, glabrous. Leaves pinnatifid, segments toothed at the tips. Racemes short, lateral. Pods ovate | 5. L. flexicaule. |
| Procumbent or suberect, hairy. Leaves pinnate, segments finely serrate on the upper edge. Racemes long, terminal. Pods minute, orbicular | 6. L. tenuicaule. |
| ** Flowers diœcious. | |
| Almost glabrous. Erect, leafy, 6–12 in. high, paniculately branched above. Pods ovate | 7. L. Kawarau. |
| Hoary and scabrid. Erect, strict, 2–5 in. high. Leaves almost all radical, coriaceous. Racemes short, dense. Pods ovate | 8. L. Matau. |
| Hairy. Suberect, 2–5 in. high. Root very long and stout. Leaves all radical. Racemes lax, open. Pods ovate-rhomboid | 9. L. sisymbrioides. |
1. L. oleraceum, Forst. Prodr. n. 248.—Stout or slender, erect or diffuse, perfectly glabrous, 10–24 in. high. Stem branched, leafy above, often naked and woody below, scarred. Leaves 1–4 in. long, obovate- or oblong-spathulate to narrow-spathulate, narrowed into a short flat petiole, sharply serrate or incised; upper smaller and narrower, more entire, toothed at the tip only. Flowers numerous, in terminal simple or branched racemes, in large specimens often corymbosely arranged at the ends of the branches. Stamens 4. Pods ovate or ovate-oblong, subacute, wingless, entire at the tip, 16 in. long; pedicels slender, spreading.—Forst. Pl. Esc. 30; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 628; Raoul, Choix de Plantes, 47; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 15; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 14; Kirk, Students' Fl. 34.
Var. acutidentatum, Kirk, l.c.—Branches slender, leafy. Leaves 1–2 in., oblong- or linear-spathulate, acutely toothed towards the tip.
