Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Gomphocarpus R.Br., Mem. Wern. Nat. Hist. Soc. 1: 37 (1810)
 Description

Erect perennial herbs or small shrubs, with milky latex. Lvs opposite or verticillate, sometimes the uppermost alternate, simple. Fls in axillary cymes; cymes umbellate. Calyx small, deeply lobed, glandular inside. Corolla valvate in bud, rotate, deeply 5-lobed; segments becoming reflexed at anthesis. Corona of 5 erect or spreading scales, hood-like, sometimes curved over the anthers, with 2 lateral teeth. Stamens inserted near base of corolla; anthers with an incurved apical membrane; pollinium solitary and pendulous in each cell, attached to a gland on the stigma. Carpels free; stigma 5-angled. Follicles smooth, bristly or softly spinose, inflated.

[From: Webb et al. (1988) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 4.]

 Biostatus
Exotic
Number of species in New Zealand within Gomphocarpus R.Br.
CategoryNumber
Exotic: Fully Naturalised1
Exotic: Casual1
Total2
 Bibliography
Brown, R. 1810: On the Asclepiadeae, a natural order of plants separated from the Apocyneae of Jussieu. Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society. Edinburgh 1: 12–78.
Connor, H.E.; Fountain, J. 2009: Plants that Poison: A New Zealand Guide. Manaaki Whenua Press, Lincoln.
Mabberley, D.J. 2008: Mabberley's plant book, a portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses. Edition 3. Cambridge University Press.