Flora of New Zealand Series

Infl. a terminal raceme on a lfless, us. simple peduncle. Fls small, white or yellow, ∞, ± densely crowded, each in the axil of a bract; pedicel articulated us. just below fl. Per. persistent; segs almost free, subequal, 1-nerved. Stamens 6, hypogynous or attached to per.-bases; filaments glab., filiform or slightly flattened; anthers dorsifixed, versatile, introrse. Ovary subglobose, 3-locular, each locule with 2 erect collateral ovules; style cylindric, erect, stigma narrow-capitate. Capsule loculicidal. Seeds dark, sts narrowly winged. Tufted herbs perennating by a group of ± fleshy roots. Lvs produced annually from crown; lamina filiform to strap-shaped, often concave adaxially, sts ± fleshy; sheath membr., its nerves us. thickened to form persistent setose or reticulate fibres surrounding base of next season's lvs, but not so in N.Z. spp. Some 20 spp., the 6 N.Z. spp. endemic and apparently the only representatives outside Africa.

Fls are yellow in all N.Z. spp. and all emit a faint but characteristic odour when crushed. "Maori onion" is the name most commonly used, but "swamp lily" and "golden star lily" have also been applied to one or more spp.

Moore (N.Z. J. Bot. 2, 1964, 286–304) has reviewed N.Z. spp. and their generic status.

Fig. 7. BULBINELLA. Fruits and seeds, × 3. © All rights reserved. [Image: 4X35]