Flora of New Zealand Series

Low, tufted herb 4-12 cm tall, well-branched from the base and sometimes also above. Stems grey-green or reddish, ± densely covered with short erect or appressed eglandular hairs. Lamina of lf narrowly elliptic, 4-9 × 1-3 mm. Floral tube 0.5-1 mm deep, ± densely strigillose outside. Petals white or rose-purple, becoming flushed rose after pollination, 2.8-9 × 1.1-5.1 mm. Capsules ± densely covered with erect or appressed eglandular hairs, 1-1.9 cm long, prominently beaked, subsessile.

S.: E. of the Main Divide from catchments of the Awatere, Clarence, Ashley and Waimakariri Rivers, to Naseby and the upper Clutha R.

Endemic.

Stony ground and in tussock grassland, 300-850 m (occasionally descending large rivers to 45 m).

FL Dec-Feb.

Distinctive features of this sp. are the tardily dehiscent capsules with prominent beaks. Allan (1961) accepted var. pubens Petrie, but this is treated as a synonym by Raven and Raven.