Flora of New Zealand Series

balm of Gilead

Stems to 2 m tall, branched, glabrous. Lvs petiolate; terminal leaflet largest, petiolulate. Lamina of terminal leaflet mostly 4-7 × 1-2.3 cm, lanceolate or narrow-ovate, gland-dotted beneath, sparingly hairy at first, especially below, finally almost glabrous, crenate or crenate-serrate; base rounded or oblique; apex acute or acuminate. Bracts 5-6 mm long, linear. Calyx 12-14 mm long, gland-dotted and hairy on upper lip outside; teeth c. 3 mm long, triangular and acuminate. Corolla 15-18-(20) mm long, pinkish mauve or whitish, hairy on upper lip outside. Nutlets c. 1.8 mm long, broad-ellipsoid, with 7-10 dorsal striations.

N.; S.: mostly rare and local, common about Wellington, Pigeon Bay (Banks Peninsula), and Dunedin; St.: Halfmoon Bay.

Canary Is, Madeira 1883

Moist and shady habitats, cultivation escape.

FL Dec-Jun.

C. canariensis has been previously recorded in N.Z. as C. triphylla.