Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/305

Nertera.] 3. N. dichondræfolia, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 112, t. 28a.—A slender creeping herb, often forming extensive matted patches. Stems 4 in. to 2 ft. long, branched, more or less hairy or villous with soft tawny hairs, rarely nearly glabrous. Leaves with the petioles ¼–¾ in. long, broadly ovate or almost orbicular, acute or apiculate, cordate or rounded at the base, membranous, more or less hispid or hairy above, usually glabrous or nearly so beneath; petiole longer or shorter than the blade. Stipules acute. Flowers terminal, sessile. Calyx-limb obscurely 4-toothed. Corolla $1⁄8$ in. long, funnel-shaped, 4-lobed. Drupe globose, red, $1⁄6$ in. diam.—''Handb. N.Z. Fl. 120; Kirk, Students' Fl.'' 247. N. gracilis, ''Raoul in Ann. Sci. Nat.'' ii. (1844) 121. N. ciliata, Kirk, Students' Fl. 247. Geophila dichondræfolia, ''A. Cunn. Precur.'' n. 482.

4. N. setulosa, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 112, t. 28b.—Very variable in size, more or less hispid with short stiff hairs. Stems creeping and rooting, 3–12 in. long, putting up numerous leafy suberect branches 1–6 in. high or more. Leaves ¼–¾ in., broadly ovate or orbicular to oblong or oblong-obovate, obtuse, membranous, laxly clothed with stiff white hairs; margins ciliate; petiole shorter than the blade. Flowers axillary or terminal, very slender, ⅓–½ in. long. Calyx-tube densely hispid; limb unequally 4–5-toothed. Corolla very long, tubular, hispid, 4–5-toothed; teeth erect. Filaments very long, wiry, far-exserted; anthers apiculate, sagittate at the base. Styles long. Drupe usually dry, $1⁄8$–$1⁄6$ in. long, oblong, obscurely ribbed, hispid.—''Handb. N.Z. Fl. 120; Kirk, Students' Fl.'' 247. N. pusilla, ''Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst.'' xvi. (1884) 331.

Herbs with slender quadrangular stems. Leaves in whorls of 4 to 8, of which 2 are supposed to be true leaves and the remainder stipules, although all are precisely similar in size and shape. Flowers minute, in axillary or terminal cymes. Calyx-limb obsolete. Corolla rotate, 4-lobed, rarely 3- or 5-lobed. Stamens 4;