img

Tetragonia tetragonoides

(Pall.) Kuntze (1891)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Eudicot-CoreEudicot Order: Caryophyllales Family: Aizoaceae Genus: Tetragonia

New Zealand spinach

img

Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Annual succulent, stout herbs.

Stems: Branches numerous, spreading or procumbent, 3–15 dm long.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate. Blades deltate to rhombic–ovate, 2–12 cm long, 1.5–5 cm wide. Apex obtuse to acute. Base truncate to cuneate, abruptly constricted to petiole. Surfaces pubescent with bladder-like hairs. Margins entire to undulate. Petioles winged, 1–1.5 cm long. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers axillary 1(2), adventitious buds sometimes arise from the calyx, producing flowers that are occasionally fertile. Flowers bisexual (perfect) or sometimes unisexual. Calyx of 4(5) sepals, green externally, yellow within, spreading, 1.5–2.5 mm long. Corolla (petals) absent. Stamens 10–20, greenish yellow. Ovary inferior, 3–8 celled, subsessile.

Fruit: Fruit nut-like; fleshy when young; dry and indurate with age; turbinate; angled; ca. 10 mm long; the apex with 2–5 horn-like projections from which another flower or branchlet is occasionally produced. Seeds usually 1 per cell; reniform; ca. 2 mm in diameter.

Ploidy: 2n = 16; 32

Habitat: Coastal zones.

Elevation Range:

Historical Distribution

Images

img

Uses and Culture

USES

Natural History

Statewide Status

Naturalized

Island Status

Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll) Naturalized
Kaua'i Naturalized
O'ahu Naturalized
Molokai Naturalized
Lana'i Naturalized
Maui Naturalized
Hawai'i Naturalized
Nihoa Naturalized

Dispersal Agents

Water/Ocean

Pollinators

Notes

  • Description digitized by Pumehana Imada
  • Native to New Zealand, Tasmania, Australia, Japan and South America; in Hawai‘i cultivated and established in scattered coastal sites.

Bibliography

Name Published In: Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 264 (1891)

Other References

Wagner et al. 1990:178 (N, K, O, H [as T. tetragonioides]); Oppenheimer et al. 1999:7 (WM); Starr & Martz 2000:10 (Mi); Starr et al. 2003:23 (EM); Staples & Herbst 2005:96 (KEY), 98 (DESCR); Starr et al. 2006:31 (Mo); Oppenheimer 2010:33 (L); McNeill et al. 2012:131 (spelling change to tetragonoides); Starr & Starr 2008/Starr 990510-5 BISH (Mi†, 1999)

Wagner, W. L., Herbst, D. R., & Sohmer, S. H. (1999). Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i, Vols. 1 and 2 (No. Edn 2). University of Hawai'i and Bishop Museum Press.

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Locality Habitat Basis of Record Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
1 Tetragonia tetragonoides Haleiwa Alii Beach Park HUMAN_OBSERVATION Imada, C. Oahu 3/14/2009
2 Tetragonia tetragonoides Haleiwa Alii Beach Park HUMAN_OBSERVATION Imada, C. Oahu 3/14/2009
3 Tetragonia tetragonoides Haleiwa Alii Beach Park HUMAN_OBSERVATION Imada, C. Oahu 3/14/2009
Back to Top