Flora of New Zealand Series

Ample laxly branched plant, subshrubby in lower, herbaceous in upper parts, up to c. 1 m. tall and broad. Stems up to c. 5 mm. diam., glab. or us. nearly so, very finely striate, narrowly margined, somewhat zigzag, internodes up to c. 10 cm. long. Lvs us. of diverse form, often several forms on an individual. Lamina thin, membr., ± glab., reticulations evident; 4-6 × 1·5-3 cm., with smaller axillary Iflts up to c. 10×7 mm., oblong to ovate-oblong to narrow ovate-oblong. Infl. an almost regular to a slightly irregular cymose umbel. Peduncle very slender, up to 15 mm. long, patent; pedicels almost filiform, up to 10 mm. long. Calyx-lobes strongly reflexed at fruiting stage. Corolla c. 8 mm. diam.; anthers 1.1-2 mm. long. Berries black, glistening, ± 6 mm. diam. Seeds (1)-1·5 mm. long. Baylis finds n = 12, pollen-grain diam. in lacto-phenol 20-27 µ, stone-cell masses in fruiting stage 0-4.

DIST.: K., Three Kings," N., S. (Queen Charlotte Sound). Shaded grassland and forest margins. The sp. is widespread in the tropics and subtropics. The above description is drawn up from N.Z. specimens.

Baylis (T.R.S.N.Z. 85, 1958) reports inability to find the exact form of this sp. collected by Banks and Solander, which was apparently widespread in pre-European times and presumably indigenous; it is represented in collections of Kirk and Petrie. He compares early specimens with living plants of three apparently naturalized races of S. nodiflorum (all diploid) and with the hexaploid S. nigrum (widely naturalized in both Islands), and the diploid S. gracile (naturalized in Westland).

He regards two of Polgar's spp. as synonymous with S. nodiflorum : S. allanii Polgar in T.R.S.N.Z. 69, 1940, 278 "because it was undoubtedly based on the full-purple form of S. nodiflorum which is abundant in the type locality (Mt. Wellington lava fields, Auckland)"; S. pachystylum Polgar loc. cit. 280 "because it has been collected only once and there is no proof that it is other than a non-perpetuating variant". He does not discuss S. (Morella) apopsilomenum Bitter in Fedde Rep. Spec. nov. Regn. veg. 12, 1913, 89 : "Nova Zelandia: Mount . . . (illegible!) leg. Schwarz, Exped. Novara, Sept. 28. 1838 sub nom. 'S. nigrum', Herb. Vindob.!" Bitter had only scanty material but had no doubt his sp. was separable from S. nigrum.