Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/223

Epilobium.] rhizome, 2–8 in. high, decumbent at the base and then erect or ascending, often reddish, simple or sparingly branched, usually with 2 or 4 pubescent lines. Leaves opposite or the upper ones alternate, densely crowded, ascending, ½–¾ in. long, narrow-oblong or oblong-obovate, obtuse or acute, narrowed into a short petiole, coarsely and remotely denticulate, glabrous or nearly so; lower ones often much reduced in size. Flowers crowded in the upper axils, hardly projeciing beyond the leaves, large, white, ⅓ in. diam. Calyx-lobes lanceolate, acute, much shorter than the petals. Stigma clavate. Capsules ½–¾ in. long, sessile or nearly so, stout, glabrous, rarely exceeding the leaves. Seeds papillose.—''Monog. Epilob. 306, t. 21, f. 88; Kirk, Students Fl.'' 176.

23. E. melanocaulon, ''Hook. Ic. Plant.'' t. 813.—Rootstock stout, hard and woody. Stems numerous, arcuate at the base and then erect, slender, rigid, wiry, simple, black or purplish-black, obscurely tetragonous, glabrous except 2 or 4 faint pubescent lines on the angles. Leaves numerous, usually close-set, opposite or alternate, ¼–⅔ in. long, uniform, narrow linear-oblong, obtuse or apiculate, sessile or very shortly petioled, rigid and coriaceous, usually dark-red, glabrous, deeply and coarsely toothed or almost lobed. Flowers sessile in the upper axils, small, erect, $1⁄5$ in. diam., white or pink. Calyx-lobes ovate-lanceolate, acute, shorter than the petals. Stigma shortly clavate. Capsules ½–1 in. long, slender, purplish-black, glabrous; peduncles very short. Seeds papillose. ''Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 60; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 80; Haussk. Monog. Epilob. 307; Kirk, Students' Fl.'' 177.

24. E. rostratum, ''Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst.'' [[Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute/Volume 28/Article 54#534|xxviii. (1896) 534.—Stems numerous from a hard woody rootstock, 2–6 in. high, decumbent at the base and then erect, simple or branched, terete, wiry, grey with a short uniform pubescence. Leaves opposite or