Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/582

542 73. V. linifolia, ''Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl.'' 214.—A small much and diffusely branched procumbent herb; branches slender, often rooting below, ascending at the tips, terete, glabrous, 2–9 in. long or more. Leaves numerous, closely placed, spreading, ⅓–1 in. long, $1⁄10$–$1⁄6$ in. broad, linear, obtuse at the tip, narrowed into a rather long broad petiole, flat, subcoriaceous, quite entire; margins of petiole ciliate. Racemes 1–3 towards the ends of the branches, 1–2 in. long, slender, naked below, 2–5-flowered; bracts ⅛–⅓ in. long, linear, obtuse; pedicels long, ¼–1 in., slender, curved. Flowers large, ⅓–½ in. diam., white or pale-rose. Calyx ⅙ in. long, deeply 4-partite; segments linear-oblong, obtuse. Corolla-tube very short; limb broad, spreading, 4-lobed; lobes broad, rounded, veined. Stamens equalling the corolla-lobes. Capsule broadly obcordate, rather shorter than the calyx.—''Armstr. in Trans. N.Z. Inst.'' xiii. (1881) 349.

74. V. catarractæ, Forst. Prodr. n. 9.—Stems slender, terete, sparingly branched, suberect, or prostrate below and then ascending, 6–24 in. long, glabrous or bifariously pubescent, woody at the base. Leaves rather distant, shortly petiolate, spreading, 1–4 in. long, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, coarsely and sharply serrate, coriaceous or submembranous, flat, 1-nerved, paler beneath. Racemes few or many towards the tips of the branches, solitary and axillary, slender, curved or erect, 3–9 in. long, many-flowered; pedicels slender, puberulous, ⅓–1 in. long; bracts linearsubulate. Flowers ⅓–½ in. diam., white or pale-rose. Calyx deeply 4-partite; segments ovate-lanceolate or oblong-ovate, acute or acuminate. Corolla with a very short tube and 4 rounded spreading lobes. Capsule broadly oblong, turgid, emarginate or almost 2-lobed, usually about ⅓ longer than the calyx.—''A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 189; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 380; Raoul, Choix, 43; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 195; Handb. N.Z. Fl.'' 216. V. irrigans, Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. ii. (1870) 94.

Var. lanceolata, ''Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel.'' i. 195.—Stems shorter and more slender. Leaves ½–1½ in. long, $1⁄12$–$1⁄8$ in. broad, linear or narrow linear-lanceolate.—''Handb. N.Z. Fl.'' 216. V. lanceolata, ''Benth. in. D.C. Prodr.'' x. 462.

Var. diffusa, ''Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl.'' 216.—Procumbent, diffusely branched. Leaves ½–1½ in. long, ovate or ovate-oblong, acute. Calyx-segments ovate, acute.—V. diffusa, ''Hook. f. Ic. Plant. t. 645; Fl. Nov. Zel.'' i. 195.

From the Thames goldfields to the south of Otago, but often local. Most plentiful on the west coast of the South Island. Sea-level to 3000 ft. November–January.