Flora of New Zealand Series

Veronica macrantha var. brachyphylla Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 1906, 537.

Type locality: Mt. Arthur, Nelson, altitude 5000 ft. Type: A, 58896, T. F. C., Jan. 1886, 1633 to Kew.

Lvs broad-elliptic to suborbicular, c. 13-15 × 9-10 mm.

DIST.: S. Mountains of Nelson, Wairau and Amuri.

FL. 1-2.

Cheeseman states that the var. has more numerous racemes and smaller fls "than is usual in Canterbury and Otago". Cockayne and Allan (loc. cit.) agree with Cheeseman as to distinctness of the var., and point out that it is "a characteristic member of the subalpine-scrub" on Mount Isabel, Hanmer, and also that var. macrantha (which they called var. vera) occurs in wetter localities.

Hooker had not seen the capsule when he described the sp. In Ill. N.Z. Fl. 2, 1914, t. 156 the ovary is shown correctly (fig. 3) with the faint septal groove down the flat face; the transverse section (fig. 5) shows the narrow septum but gives no indication that the locules extend widely at right angles to it as the capsule ripens, at the same time developing quite sharp anterior and posterior ridges; fig. 6 depicts correctly how the old capsule splits deeply into four valves each showing only a very narrow remnant of septum.