''Mazus radicans'', commonly known as swamp musk, is a wetland herb in the family

Mazaceae Mazaceae is a family of plants in the order Lamiales. The family was described by James L. Reveal in 2011. Genera in this family were most recently previously included in Phrymaceae and in older classifications were placed in Scrophulariaceae. ...

, native to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Description

''M. radicans'' is a small, creeping

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

which is native to New Zealand. It has prostrate main branches rooting at nodes. The lateral branches are short and leafy with distinctive internodes on leaf-bearing or subterranean and horizontal branches. Leaves are a brownish colour. The

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

is long and has membranous wings lined on each side. Leaves are

obovate The following terms are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade is divided into two or more leaflets) ...

or elliptic or more broadly, about by . The base of leaves is gradually small and blade margin is slightly undulate to serrate and broad-acute to rounded at apex. Margins have soft hairs.

Inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s are usually on a terminal of the short lateral branches, with long flowers.

Pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branch ...

usually lack bracts and fall off early.

Bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

eoles are the same size and shape, which alternate along pedicels about . The lower bracteole buds occasionally, and are long and a little hairy. Its calyx is about long with purple flowers. Externally, it is white with purple flesh; the internal flesh is deep purple. It has a white and yellow lip. The lower lip has rounded lobes, that are

glabrous Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...

apart from the palate. The length of the tube is twice that of the calyx. The upper lip is about long and has capsule fruit that does not fall off. The fruit is pink and red in colour and broadly ellipsoid.

Distribution

New Zealand range

It is a common wetland weed on the South Island. It can be seen in damp places such as wild wetland and swamp. As an

endemic species Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

in North Island, it appears in

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near

Kaitaia Kaitaia () is a town in the Far North District of New Zealand, at the base of the Aupōuri Peninsula, about 160 km northwest of Whangārei. It is the last major settlement on State Highway 1. Ahipara Bay, the southern end of Te Oneroa-a- ...

, Hautai Beach and Waipapa Stream near

East Cape East Cape is the easternmost point of the main islands of New Zealand. It is at the northern end of the Gisborne District of the North Island. East Cape was originally named "Cape East" by British explorer James Cook during his 1769–1779 voy ...

. It survives in higher regions in New Zealand up to 100–1100 m above sea level. It occurs in alpine regions up to from Mt Egmont\

Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

and the

Huiarau Range The Huiarau Range is a range of mountains in Te Urewera in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. Part of the spine of mountains that run roughly parallel with the island's east coast, it is a southwestern extension of the Raukumara Range, ...

s southwards to

Fiordland Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of F ...

Habitat preferences

It is found in lowland swamp forest in sparsely-vegetated coastal wetlands and in moist sub-alpline areas.Landcare Research.(2010). Retrieved from nzflora.info/ It prefers places with short and thick sedges and grasses, often in sites with seasonal water cover or in areas of heavy grazing.

Life cycle

''M. radicans'' is a perennial or annual herb. It usually has a flower from November to March in New Zealand. The flowering time is in summer. In autumn, fruits mature, but do not fall off the plant. Fresh seeds are easy to germinate and the best environment for its reproduction is permanently moist or badly drained earth under the shade, which is a good ground shelter. The flowers are pollinated by bees.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17757331 Endemic flora of New Zealand radicans Taxa named by Thomas Frederic Cheeseman