Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/583

Veronica.] An exceedingly variable plant. Forster's type, judging from the description given by A. Richard, is a rather small-leaved state, with lanceolate leaves 1–2 in. long; and according to Mr. N. E. Brown corresponds to the var. minor of the "Flora Novæ-Zealandiæ." But it passes insensibly into a much more luxuriant state, with leaves sometimes over 4 in. long, and with longer racemes. This again varies into var. lanceolata, Mr. Kirk's V. irrigans being about half-way between the two. Var. diffusa is also connected by numerous intermediates.

75. V. Lyallii, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 196.— Stems slender, prostrate and rooting, much and diffusely branched, 3–18 in. long, more rarely suberect from a prostrate base; branches terete, usually bifariously pubescent, sometimes conspicuously so, rarely almost glabrous. Leaves shortly petioled, spreading, ¼–½ in. long, broadly ovate or almost orbicular to oblong-ovate, obtuse or subacute, with 2 or 3 coarse blunt serratures on each side, thick and coriaceous, glabrous, often reddish on the midrib beneath and on the petiole. Racemes several, few- or many-flowered, on slender erect peduncles 2–6 in. long usually springing from near the ends of the branches but sometimes lateral, glabrous or more or less pubescent; pedicels slender, the lowest ½ in. long or more. Flowers ⅓ in. diam., white with pink veins. Calyx deeply 4-partite; segments ovate-oblong, acute, margins ciliolate. Corolla-tube very short; limb broad, spreading, with 4 rounded lobes. Stamens shorter than the corollalobes. Capsule broadly obovate-oblong, turgid, 2-lobed or emarginate, exceeding the calyx.—''Handb. N.Z. Fl. 215; Armstr. in Trans. N.Z. Inst.'' xiii. (1881) 349.

76. V. Bidwillii, ''Hook. Ic. Plant.'' t. 814.—Stems slender, prostrate and rooting, much branched, woody at the base, 3–12 in. long; branches creeping, often matted, glabrous or pubescent. Leaves rather distant, shortly petioled or almost sessile, minute, $1⁄10$–$1⁄4$ in.