Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/112

72

A small glabrous herb. Leaves opposite, slightly fleshy. Flowers small, axillary or shortly racemose. Sepals 2, ovate, persistent. Petals 5, united at the base into a 5-lobed corolla, split open on one side. Stamens 3, rarely 5, inserted on the petals. Ovary free; ovules 3. Capsule globose, 3-valved, 3-seeded. Seeds early orbicular.

1. M. fontana, ''Linn. Sp. Plant.'' 87.—A slender perfectly glabrous branching herb, forming dense tufts 1–5 in. high, sometimes longer and weaker when growing in water. Leaves opposite, ¼–1 in. long, linear-lanceolate or spathulate, acute or subacute, quite entire. Flowers minute, solitary or in 2–3-flowered racemes, drooping. Petals slightly longer than the sepals. Capsules small.—''Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. 13; Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 74; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 27; Kirk, Students' Fl.'' 65.

A small densely tufted glabrous perennial. Leaves small, densely imbricated, coriaceous, entire. Flowers almost sessile amongst the uppermost leaves. Sepals 2, short, truncate. Petals 5, connate at the base, thickened below the tip. Stamens 5, inserted on the tube of the corolla, and alternate with the petals; anthers linear-oblong. Ovary free; ovules 4–5, erect from the base of the cell; funicles slender; style erect; stigmas 1–3, linear, papillose. Capsule membranous, equalling the sepals; seeds 2–4.

1. H. cæspitosa, ''Hook. f Handb. N.Z. Fl.'' 27.—Stems short, stout, densely tufted, with the leaves on almost as thick as the little finger, forming compact rounded cushions 2–8 in. diam. and 1–3 in. high. Leaves very numerous, closely imbricated in many series, $1⁄6$–$1⁄3$ in. long, broadly triangular-ovate to linear-oblong with a broad base, thin and membranous below the middle, coriaceous and keeled above; margins and tip thickened; veins reticulated. Flowers small, white, very shortly peduncled, forming a ring round the top of the branches among the uppermost leaves, often unisexual, the staminate ones being the smallest. Sepals concave, keeled. Petals much longer than the sepals. Capsule globose, membranous, as long as the sepals. Seeds 2–4, broadly ovoid, smooth and shining.—''Hook. f. in Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 1046; Kirk,''