Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/566

526 imbricating, spreading or erecto-patent, sessile, ¼–¾ in. long, ⅙–½ in. broad, broad or narrow obovate-oblong to broadly oblong or suborbicular, obtuse, narrowed to a broad base, concave above, rounded at the back, very coriaceous or almost fleshy, quite glabrous, nerveless, glaucous, margins often edged with red. Spikes crowded near the tips of the branches, short, stout, dense-flowered, exceeding the leaves; peduncle and rhachis pubescent; bracts oblong, concave, as long as the calyx. Flowers white, ¼–⅓ in. diam., sessile. Calyx 4-partite; segments erect, oblong, obtuse, puberulous, margins ciliolate. Corolla-tube short, not exceeding the calyx; limb 4-lobed; lobes ovate-oblong or broadly oblong, obtuse, the anterior one narrower than the others. Ovary pubescent; style usually villous towards the base. Capsule oblong or obovate, obtuse, rounded at the tip, pubescent, from half as long again to nearly twice as long as the calyx.—''Bot. Mag. t. 6147; Armstr. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiii. (1881) 350. V. carnosula, Hook. f. in Bot. Mag. t. 6587 (not of Handh. N.Z. Fl. 210).''

44. V. Buchanani, ''Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl.'' 211.—A small woody shrub 4–12 in. high, much branched from the base; branches stout, terete, spreading or decumbent, sometimes tortuous, closely ringed with the scars of the fallen leaves; bark black; branchlets usually pubescent at the tips. Leaves decussate, closely imbricate, sessile by a broad base, suberect or spreading, rarely deflexed, ⅛–¼ in. long and almost as broad, broadly oblong or almost orbicular, obtuse or more rarely subacute, very thick and coriaceous, concave, rarely obscurely keeled, nerveless, quite glabrous. Spikes 2–4 near the tips of the branches, short and stout but much longer than the leaves, oblong, dense-flowered, shortly peduncled; peduncle and rhachis villous-pubescent; bracts large, concave, ciliate, equalling the calyx or exceeding it. Flowers ⅕ in. diam., white, sessile. Calyx 4-partite; segments erect, oblong, obtuse, ciliolate. Corolla-tube short, included in the calyx or barely equalling it; limb 4-lobed; lobes broadly oblong, obtuse. Ovary and style pubescent. Capsule nearly twice as long as the calyx, oblong or oblong-obovate, obtuse, pubescent.—''Armstr. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiii. (1881) 350; Kirk, l.c.'' xxviii. (1896) 523.