Stinking Pennywort

Hydrocotyle laxiflora is a spreading, perennial herb with white or yellow rhizomes, sometimes up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) long, branches densely covered with coarse, rough hairs, branches upright or ascending to about 15 cm (5.9 in) high. Leaves are borne singly along the rhizome, circular, kidney or heart-shaped, slightly lobed, hairy and 10–40 mm (0.39–1.57 in) in diameter on a petiole 1–12 cm (0.39–4.72 in) long. Flowers are in simple umbels, roughly spherical, 5–8 mm (0.20–0.31 in) in diameter, mostly 30-50 flowered emitting an offensive odour. Flowering occurs from October to December and the fruit is a ribbed mericarp, 1.5–2 mm (0.059–0.079 in) long and 1.8–2.5 mm (0.071–0.098 in) wide.

Stinking pennywort grows in shady, moist, loamy or humus rich soils in South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Tasmania.

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