Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/183

Tillæa. acute or mucrouate, fleshy, concave above, convex or keeled beneath. Flowers solitary, axillary, $1⁄10$–$1⁄8$ diam., white or rosy. Calyx-lobes ovate-subulate, acute. Petals 4, exceeding the calyxlobes, broadly oblong, obtuse. Scales 4. Carpels 4, ovoid; style recurved. Seeds 8.—Kirk, Students' Fl. 143.

8. T. Sieberiana, Schultz, Mant. iii. 345.—A small pale reddish-brown succulent annual; stems 1–5 in. high, erect, simple or branched from the base. Leaves minute, $1⁄10$ in. long, connate at the base, ovate-oblong or linear-oblong, subacute, thick and fleshy, concave above, convex beneath. Flowers very minute, in dense axillary clusters mixed with small leaves, at first sessile, but the peduncles usually lengthen as the fruit ripens. Sepals 4, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate. Petals shorter and narrower, acute. Scales wanting. Carpels 4, linear-oblong, nearly equalling the sepals when ripe. Seeds usually 2.—Kirk, Students Fl. 143. T. verticillaris, D.C. Prodr. iii. 382; ''A. Cunn. Precur. n. 521; Raoul, Choix, 48; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 75; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 62; Benth. Fl. Austral,'' ii. 451. T. muscosa, ''Forst. Prodr. n. 61 (non Linn.); A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel.'' 322.

9. T. debilis, Col. ex Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 75.—A very small delicate species; stems intricate, filiform or capillary, prostrate, 2–3 in. long. Leaves in scattered pairs, minute, $1⁄16$–$1⁄12$ in. long, ovate-oblong or linear-oblong. Flowers minute, 1 or 2 in the axils of the leaves, sessile or on slender peduncles. Sepals 4, oblong, subacute. Petals ovate-acuminate, shorter than the sepals. Scales wanting. Carpel ovate-lanceolate, 1- or 2-seeded.—Kirk, Students' Fl. 143.

10. 'T. purpurata, ''Hook. f. in Lond. Journ. Bot.'' vi. (1847) 472.—A very slender delicate and fugacious annual; stems 1–2 in. high, erect or suberect, sparingly branched. Leaves remote, connate at the base, $1⁄10$–$1⁄6$ in. long, linear, acuminate, concave above. Flowers minute, $1⁄12$ in. diam., on slender pedicels that elongate much in fruit. Calyx-lobes 4, ovate, obtuse or subacute. Petals 4, equalling the calyx, acuminate. Scales wanting. Carpels broadly oblong, obtuse. Seeds numerous, usually 10–15.—''Hook. f.''