Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/602

562

Herbs or shrubs. Leaves generally opposite or whorled, simple, entire or toothed; stipules wanting. Flowers usually irregular, hermaphrodite, in axillary or terminal racemes or cymes, or solitary. Calyx inferior or semi-superior, 5-partite; segments valvate. Corolla gamopetalous, usually irregular; tube long or short; limb more or less oblique, lobes 4–5, imbricate. Stamens 2 or 4, inserted on the tube of the corolla; anthers 2-celled. Ovary superior or more rarely inferior, 1-celled; style linear; stigma capitate or 2-lobed; ovules many, anatropous, on two opposite entire or bifid parietal placentas. Fruit capsular or berried, dehiscent or indehiscent. Seeds numerous, small; albumen present or absent; embryo straight.

A much-branched shrub; branches spreading, scabrid-pubescent. Leaves opposite. Flowers solitary, axillary. Calyx free, deeply 5-fid; lobes lanceolate, acuminate. Corolla-tube sub-campanulate; limb obscurely 2-lipped; lobes 5, rounded, spreading, nearly equal. Stamens 4 with the rudiment of a fifth, inserted on the corolla-tube below the middle; filaments long, linear, arched; anthers cohering at the apex in a cruciate manner; cells distinct, parallel. Disc small, obscure, annular. Ovary superior, ovoid; style filiform; stigma 2-lobed; ovules numerous, on thick and prominent 2-lobed placentas. Capsule ovoid, acuminate, coriaceous, 2-valved; valves 2-fid, separating from the placentas. Seeds numerous, minute, ovoid.

1. R. Solandri, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 385.—Slender, much branched, 2–5 ft. high; branches opposite, terete, everywhere rough with short stiff greyish pubescence. Leaves on slender petioles; blade variable in size, usually ½–1 in. long, but sometimes over 2 in., broadly ovate or orbicular, coarsely toothed, both surfaces rough with short scabrid hairs, dull-green. Flowers handsome, ¾–1 in. long, orange with red stripes; peduncles slender, ½–1½ in. long. Capsule ¼–⅓ in. long, included within the persistent calyx.—Raoul, Choix, 44; ''Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 186; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 221; C. B. Clarke in D.C. Monog. Phan.'' v. 166, t. 17. E. scabrosus, ''Steud. Nom.'' ed 2, ii. 44-3. Columnea scabrosa, ''Sol. ex D.C. Prodr.'' ix. 277.