Flora of New Zealand Series

Perennial, sometimes cushion-forming; stems slender, prostrate, decumbent or erect, angular, glabrous or slightly hairy, < 10-(12) cm long. Lvs and stipules in whorls of 4, sessile, rather close and often imbricate, sessile or subsessile; lamina 1.3-4-(5) × 0.5-1-(1.3) mm, narrowly lanceolate, linear-lanceolate, oblanceolate or narrowly elliptic, ± shining above, usually glabrous except for the often ciliolate margins and sometimes sparsely ciliolate midrib; apex usually mucronate to cuspidate. Fls axillary and terminal, solitary, generally unisexual. ♂ fls on pedicels to c. 3 mm long; ♀ fls subsessile or sessile; bracts 0. Corolla whitish or creamy yellow; tube 0.3-1-(1.5) mm long; limb (1.5)-2-3.5 mm diam.; lobes ± oblong, acute or subacute. Mericarps c. 2 mm diam., globose, glabrous, papillate.

N.: S. of Auckland; S.; St.

Endemic.

Lowland to montane regions, generally in open habitats, such as grassland, steep banks, scrub, river and streamsides.

FL Nov-Feb.

G. perpusillum usually grows in drier habitats than the other 2 indigenous spp. Hooker (1853) described the N.Z. plant as Asperula perpusilla; it resembles that genus and could be referred to it on several characters. Galium and Asperula L. are difficult to separate in the N. Hemispere where most spp. occur and it is even more difficult to place some S. Hemisphere taxa. The N.Z. plant is retained in Galium here, although McGillivray, D. J., Telopea 2(4): 376 (1983), referred it to Asperula without explanation.

G. perpusillum is very variable in habit and corolla structure and there are probably 2 or possibly 3 spp. included under this name, but detailed studies are required in order to be certain. All plants probably have unisexual fls but some have a very short corolla tube c. 0.3 mm long and lobes which are consequently considerably > the tube. In addition, the lvs are usually narrower and more sharply pointed in such plants, although these differences are not clearly defined. Populations of this variant occur in several inland montane areas and on Kaitorete Spit in Canterbury.