Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/78

38 compressed laterally, notched at the summit or entire, winged or not; septum narrow, membranous. Seeds one in each cell, suspended from the top of the septum; cotyledons incumbent.

1. L. oleraceum, Forst. Prodr. n. 248.—Stout or slender, erect or diffuse, perfectly glabrous, 10–24 in. high. Stem branched, leafy above, often naked and woody below, scarred. Leaves 1–4 in. long, obovate- or oblong-spathulate to narrow-spathulate, narrowed into a short flat petiole, sharply serrate or incised; upper smaller and narrower, more entire, toothed at the tip only. Flowers numerous, in terminal simple or branched racemes, in large specimens often corymbosely arranged at the ends of the branches. Stamens 4. Pods ovate or ovate-oblong, subacute, wingless, entire at the tip, $1⁄6$ in. long; pedicels slender, spreading.—''Forst. Pl. Esc. 30; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 628; Raoul, Choix de Plantes, 47; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 15; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 14; Kirk, Students' Fl.'' 34.

Var. frondosum, Kirk, l.c.—Stout, fleshy, much branched. Leaves large, 2–5 in., broadly oblong or cuneate-oblong, serrate.

Var. acutidentatum, Kirk, l.c.—Branches slender, leafy. Leaves 1–2 in., oblong- or linear-spathulate, acutely toothed towards the tip.