Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/219

Epilobium.]

13. E. rotundifolium, Forst. Prodr. n. 161.—Stems 5–15 in. long, weak, creeping and rooting at the base, usually erect or ascending above but sometimes altogether prostrate, terete, pubescent or glabious. Leaves opposite, the uppermost alternate, thin and membranous, distant. ⅓–¾ in. long, orbicular or orbicular-ovate, obtuse, rounded at the base, petiolate, closely and sharply unequally toothed, glabrous or slightly puberulous, often reddish beneath. Flowers in the axils of the uppermost leaves, $1⁄6$–$1⁄4$ in. diam., pale-rose or white. Calyx-lobes oblong-lanceolate, acute, shorter than the petals. Stigma narrow-clavate. Capsules about 1½ in. long, glabrous or sparingly pubescent: peduncles much elongated. Seeds papillose.—''A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 326; Raoul, Choix, 49; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 58; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 79; Haussk. Monog. Epilob. 299; Kirk, Students' Fl.'' 172.

14. E. linnæoides, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 10, t. 6.—Stems herbaceous, slender, 2–8 in. long, creeping and rooting at the nodes, usually widely and irregularly branched, perfectly glabrous or with 2 faint pubescent lines towards the tips of the branches. Leaves opposite, ¼–½ in. diam., orbicular, petioled, flaccid and membranous, closely and sharply denticulate. Flowers in the axils of leaves remote from the ends of the branches, white or rose, $1⁄6$–$1⁄4$ in. diam. Calyx lobes lanceolate, shorter than the deeply cleft petals. Stigma clavate. Capsules 1–2 in. long, perfectly glabrous; peduncles usually much elongated, 2–4 in. Seeds densely papillose.—Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 58; ''Handb. N.Z. Fl. 77; Haussk. Monog. Epilob. 301; Kirk. Students' Fl.'' 173.

15. E. nummularifolium, ''R. Cunn. ex A. Cunn. Precur.'' n. 535.—Stems herbaceous, slender, 2–12 in. long, prostrate and rooting at the nodes, much or sparingly branched, often matted, bifariously pubescent or quite glabrous. Leaves opposite, very variable in size, $1⁄8$–$1⁄2$ in. long, orbicular or orbicular-ovate, rounded