Flora of New Zealand Series

G. concinna var. robusta Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. 1, 1844, 53.

Type: W, 4729, T. Kirk, 17 Jan. 1890. Hooker described his G. concinna var. β robusta from specimens without fls.

Annual with stout, erect, densely lfy stems up to ± 7·5-25 cm. tall. Basal lvs (2)-3-5 cm. long, coriac., rather fleshy, upper surface ± wrinkled to rugulose; lamina oblong or spathulate-oblong (occ. ± lanceolate), with 3-5 distinct nerves, narrowed into flat petiole c. 3 cm. long. Cauline lvs ∞, smaller, oblong-spathulate to oblong on short broad petioles nearly ═ lamina. Fls crowded in much-branched slender axillary lfy cymes, each fl. subtended by a slightly longer linear bract. Calyx ± 9 mm. long, cut nearly to base into linear-oblong obtuse lobes. Corolla ± 11 mm. long, lobes oblong, obtuse.

DIST.: C. Peat bogs and grassland.

Var. imbricata Kirk loc. cit. : "Stems 1 in.-3 in. high, simple, erect, rigid, leaves at base coriaceous, with a stout marginal nerve, closely imbricating, ovate or ovate-spathulate, narrowed below. Flowers solitary in the axils of the upper leaves, which are shorter and broader. Calyx divided nearly to base; segments linear-oblong, subacute; corolla longer than the calyx; ovary stipitate. G. concinna β, elongata, Hook. f. in Fl. Antarc., i., 54."

The type specimens in W (4730) were collected by Kirk, who says: "The entire absence of minute warts, the coriaceous leaves with strong marginal nerves, and the larger flowers tend to prove that this plant is worthy of specific honours, which I refrain from awarding until specimens in a more advanced stage can be examined."

Cheeseman (Man. N.Z. Fl. 1925, 736) accepts the var. Sorensen (D.S.I.R. Cape Exped. Ser. Bull. 7, 1951, 32) reports of G. antarctica; "Fairly common on open or tussock country, usually at altitudes of 500 ft. Foliage varies from deep green to reddish-bronze and the flowers from white to red, often streaked with both colours.... A dwarfed form of G. antarctica is common in lowland places and peat bogs. It is not found at altitudes where the large form occurs. So far, Kirk's variety imbricata has not been located." Recent collections suggest that var. imbricata is one of the group of dwarf plants referred to by Sorensen and that further study in the field is required.

Kirk (loc. cit. 339) says of G. antarctica "whole plant minutely verrucose" and of var. imbricata "entire absence of minute warts". Cheeseman (Man. N.Z. Fl. 1925, 735-736) also makes this distinction. The recent collections show that "warts" may be present in varying degrees on all forms and are probably not of diagnostic value, but due to attack by some fungus.