Flora of New Zealand Series

Rhizomatous perennial herb. Stems ascending or decumbent, glabrous, purplish or green, bearing persistent crowded lf bases below, (2)-5-10-(20) cm tall. Lvs not dying back after fruiting, in compact rosettes, often whorled on older stems, glabrous, or hairy on upper surface, green, thin or rarely sub-fleshy. Basal lvs pinnate or entire; petiole long; terminal leaflet > laterals, not lobed, rarely sinuate, reniform to triangular-ovate; lateral leaflets in 0-2-(4) pairs, obovate or elliptic, entire; petiolules short or 0. Cauline lvs few or 0, similar to basal, usually smaller and entire. Infl. corymbose or whorled, sometimes forking; peduncle glabrous, (0)-2-15 cm long, often suppressed giving the appearance of many solitary pedicels. Pedicels glabrous, slender, ascending, 5-20-(100) mm long at fruiting. Sepals glabrous or hairy, purplish or green, 1-1.8 × 0.4-1 mm. Petals white, erect or spreading, spathulate (narrow in subantarctic plants), (2)-3-4.5-(6) × (1)-1.5-(3) mm, rarely 0. Stamens 4 or 6. Cleistogamous fls produced in late summer and autumn, borne among petioles: sepals c. 0.5 mm long; petals 0-0.5 mm long; stamens 4; ovary very small. Silique brown or purplish, erect or erecto-patent, 10-20-(30) × 0.5-1-(2) mm; valves glabrous or hairy; style (0)-1 mm long. Seeds oblong, yellow to pale brown, 1-(1.5) mm long.

N.: Taranaki (Mt Egmont), Volcanic Plateau, Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, Wellington; S.: throughout; St.; Ch., A., C.

Endemic

Coastal to montane shaded sites in forest and scrub, gardens, glasshouses.

FL (Sep)-Oct-Dec-(Mar) (Sep)-Nov-Mar-(Apr).

C. corymbosa here includes C. uniflora (Hook. f.) Allan, nom. illegit., non C. uniflora Michx., and a complex of coastal, lowland and montane-subalpine races. Plants of C. corymbosa sens. strict. are characteristically slender, with thin green rounded leaflets, slender pedicels arranged corymbosely on a short or long peduncle, and slender short siliques. Such plants may be found throughout the range given above in coastal and forest habitats and also as a weed of shaded lawns, flower beds and glasshouses. Some larger, more robust forms occurring on screes or in grasslands of montane regions have been included in the above description as they appear to belong with C. corymbosa in an unresolved complex of spp.