Shrub with dense to open branching system, sometimes rooting at the nodes. Leaves 3-10 mm long, almost round, leathery, on stalks 2-3 mm long. Sheath 2-3 mm long. Flowers about 4 mm wide, axillary, solitary or paired on short, thin stalks, yellow-green; mostly summer. Fruit a 3-angled glossy black nut.

NSW, Vic, Tas, New Zealand

In Victoria it is rare and confined to eastern subalps. In NSW it grows at higher altitudes near streams . It grows naturally on the North and South Islands of New Zealand in montane to lower subalpine riverbeds and in open grassland.

Rare in cultivation.

Source: Spencer, R. (1997). Polygonaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.

Updated by: Rob Cross, January 2018