Flora of New Zealand Series

Stems slender, ± flaccid, up to ± 40 cm. long, sparingly branched, rooting at lower nodes, then ascending; branchlets ascending, very slender, pale, sparsely pubescent, becoming glab. Lvs opp., floral alt., ± distant, internodes up to 4 cm. long; petioles very short, up to 2 mm. long; lamina (5)-10-(20) × (5)-8-10 mm.; ovate to broad-ovate or ovate-oblong, thin, membr., glab. or nearly so; entire or obscurely sinuate with very few denticles. Fls ± 4-5 mm. diam.; calyx-lobes oblong-lanceolate, apiculate, < petals; petals white. Capsules 25-50 mm. long, slender, sparsely pubescent to glabrate; peduncles ± 6 cm. long, slender, glab. Seeds smooth.

DIST.: N., S., St., Ch. Lowland to lower montane swamps and very damp ground from lat. 37° southwards.

FL.- FT. 10-2.

Haussknecht based his sp. on specimens collected "ad Waimea-River in soc. E. rotundifolii leg. Munro No. 76, leg. Colenso No. 386 (Hb. Kew)". The only Monro 76 now in the K folder is E. rotundifolium, but Haussknecht's sp. is amply distinct from any other.