{{short description|Species of plant}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}{{Use Australian English|date=October 2011}} {{Speciesbox |image = Dichondra repens flower1 (8427835587).jpg |image_caption = |genus = Dichondra |species = repens |authority = J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.<ref name="POWO">{{cite web |title=''Dichondra repens'' |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:267765-1 |publisher=Plants of the World Online |access-date=19 April 2023}}</ref> |synonyms_ref = <ref name="POWO" /> |synonyms = ''Steripha reniformis'' <small>Sol. ex Gaertn.</small> }}
'''''Dichondra repens''''', commonly known as '''kidney weed''',<ref name=FB>{{FloraBase|name=''Pimelea villifera'' |id=5272 }}</ref> '''Mercury Bay weed''',<ref name="NZPCN">{{cite web |title=''Dichondra repens'' |url=https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/dichondra-repens/ |publisher=New Zealand Plant Conservation Network |access-date=19 April 2023}}</ref> '''tom thumb''',<ref name="SA">{{cite web |title=''Dichondra repens'' |url=http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/cgi-bin/speciesfacts_display.cgi?form=speciesfacts&name=Dichondra_repens |publisher=State Herbarium of South Australia |access-date=19 April 2023}}</ref> or '''yilibili''' in the Dharawal language,<ref name="RBGS">{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Robert William |title=''Dichondra repens'' |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Dichondra~repens |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney |access-date=19 April 2023}}</ref> is a species of flowering plant in the family Convolvulaceae and is native to Australia, New Zealand, and the Indian Ocean islands, Mauritius, Réunion and Rodrigues.<ref name="POWO" /> It is a perennial, herb with kidney-shaped to round leaves and small, greenish-yellow, star-shaped flowers.
==Description== ''Dichondra repens'' is a perennial herb with a creeping habit, forming roots at the nodes. The leaves are kidney-shaped to circular, mostly {{cvt|5–25|mm}} long and {{cvt|5–30|mm}} wide on a petiole {{cvt|10–50|mm}} long. The base of the leaf is heart-shaped and its apex round or slightly notched. Both surfaces of the leaves are covered with soft, greyish hairs. The flowers are borne singly on a pedicel usually {{cvt|5–60|mm}} long, the sepals joined at the base with lobes {{cvt|2.5–4|mm}} long. The petals are pale greenish-yellow and joined at the base, forming a short tube with lobes about the same length as the sepal lobes. Flowering occurs throughout the year with a peak in spring and summer, more profusely from September to February with a peak in November. The fruit is a hairy, two-lobed capsule.<ref name="RBGS" /><ref name="RBGV">{{cite web |last1=Jeanes |first1=Jeff A. |last2=Stajsic |first2=Val |title=''Dichondra repens'' |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/3b9d7141-690a-4800-91d9-81b7c62a9dc0 |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |access-date=19 April 2023}}</ref><ref name="benson">{{cite journal |last1=Benson |first1=Doug |last2=McDougall |first2=Lyn |title=Ecology of Sydney plant species - Part 3: Dicotyledon families Cabombaceae to Eupomatiaceae |journal=Cunninghamia |date=1995 |volume=4 |issue=2 |page=308 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/271021#page/170/mode/1up}}</ref>
==Taxonomy== ''Dichondra repens'' was first formally described in 1775 by German naturalists Johann Reinhold Forster and Georg Forster in ''Characteres generum plantarum'',<ref name="POWO" /><ref name="Forst.">{{cite book |last1=Forster |first1=Johann R. |last2=Forster |first2=Georg |title=Characteres generum plantarum, quas in itinere ad insulas maris Australis, : collegerunt, descripserunt, delinearunt, annis 1772-1775 |date=1775 |location=London |page=40 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/23365#page/56/mode/1up |access-date=19 April 2023}}</ref> and the lectotype collected by them in New Zealand,<ref name="nicfos">{{cite book |last1=Nicolson |first1=D.H. |last2=Fosberg |first2=F.R. |title=The Forsters and the Botany of the Second Cook Expedition (1772–1775) |publisher=Koeltz Botanical Books |date=2004}}</ref> is in the Sammlung für Völkerkunde anthropological collection in Göttingen.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.specimen.goet012585 |publisher=JSTOR |title=Type of ''Dichondra repens'' J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. |access-date=16 October 2018}}</ref> The specific epithet ''repens'' is a Latin adjective meaning 'creeping'.<ref>{{cite book |author=Simpson DP |title=Cassell's Latin Dictionary |publisher=Cassell Ltd. |year=1979 |edition=5 |location=London |isbn=978-0-304-52257-6}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== Kidney weed is widespread in all Australian States and New Zealand, and occurs on Mauritius, Réunion and Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean.<ref name="POWO" /> It grows in forest, woodland and grassland on clay or clay-based soils that are medium to high in nutrients, and is a weed of lawns. Associated species in New South Wales are river peppermint (''Eucalyptus elata''), thin-leaved stringybark (''E. eugenioides''), woollybutt (''E. longifolia'') and snow-in-summer (''Melaleuca linariifolia'').<ref name="RBGS" /><ref name="benson" />
==Ecology== The native Pacific black duck (''Anas superciliosa'') eats the seeds of this species.<ref name=benson/>
==Use in horticulture== This species is cultivated as an ornamental plant, and can be used as a lawn substitute or groundcover in gardens.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.au.gardenweb.com/forums/load/oznative/msg02194805987.html |publisher=GardenWeb |title=Growing ''Dichondra repens'' |access-date=31 January 2013}}</ref>
==Chemistry== ''D. repens'' uses acylsugars as a chemical defence.<ref name="Analyse acylsugar defensive function"/> Among these are acylated resin glycosides which synergize with antibiotics to reverse bacterial multidrug resistance (MDR).<ref name="Analyse acylsugar defensive function">{{Cite journal |year=2023 |volume=73 |title=Dangerous sugars: Structural diversity and functional significance of acylsugar-like defense compounds in flowering plants |doi=10.1016/j.pbi.2023.102348 |doi-access=free |last1=Moghe |first1=Gaurav |last2=Irfan |first2=Mohammad |last3=Sarmah |first3=Bhaswati |journal=Current Opinion in Plant Biology |bibcode=2023COPB...7302348M}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Commons category|Dichondra repens}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q859897}}
repens Category:Flora of Australia Category:Flora of New Zealand Category:Flora of Mauritania Category:Plants described in 1775 Category:Taxa named by Georg Forster Category:Taxa named by Johann Reinhold Forster Category:Garden plants of Australia Category:Groundcovers