Euphrasia disperma Hook.f.
Succulent, prostrate, annual herb forming loosely matted patches, ± umbellately divided into usually 5 spreading, copiously branched stems to c. 20 cm long, or whole plant much smaller and more compact; stems and branches glabrous or ± pilose. Lvs sessile, to c. 6 × 2.5 mm, lanceolate to ovate, acuminate, entire or with a pair of narrow to filiform apiculate teeth, glabrous or ± pilose. Fls on short ± horizontal pedicels bent abruptly upwards. Calyx 4-7 mm long, glabrous or ± pilose, divided c. 1/2 way. Corolla white to cream, usually 1.5-6.5 cm long; tube ± filiform, usually much > 1 cm long. Anthers free, golden yellow; margins completely glabrous; awns small. Capsule < to slightly > calyx, c. 4 × 2 mm.
N.: Reporoa Bog (N.W. Ruahine Range); S.: W. Nelson and Westland from Karamea to Okarito.
Endemic.
From sea level to 1000 m, usually boggy or swampy places.
FL Dec-Mar.
E. disperma is one of the most distinctive spp. in the genus and was at one time segregated as the monotypic Siphonidium Armstrong. The combination of the long filiform corolla tube, free anthers, and the capsule becoming exposed by rupturing the calyx, is unique in Euphrasia.
