Common Name

Spiny Lignum

Family

Polygonaceae

Notes

Shrub to 60cm tall or prostrate, branches spine-tipped. Leaves lost eventually. Leaves with a sheath at the base, in clusters of 2-5, 1-5cm long, 1-2mm wide, linear, hairless, margins curved to rolled down, with pointed tips. Male and female flowers usually on separate plants. Flowers small (less than 3mm across), whitish green, with 5 lobes, in clusters of usually 3-5 along the stems. Duma horrida ssp. horrida in NSW and SA. Rare SA. Rare Vic.

Description and photo (as Muehlenbeckia horrida) in G.M. Cunningham, WE Mulham, PL Milthorpe and J H Leigh (1981 and later printings) Plants of Western New South Wales page 230

PlantNET description with photos and line drawings:   http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=in&name=Duma~horrida+subsp.~horrida