Flora of New Zealand Series

E. junceum var. hirtigerum Hook. f. Fl. N.Z. 1, 1852, 60.

Type locality: "Skirts of forests round Wangaroa-Harbour." Type: R. Cunningham 1833.

Stock woody; stems several, stiff, erect from arcuate base, clad in villous hairs, simple or branched; branches ± virgate, hoary with mingled long and short hairs. Lower lvs subopp., rest alt., ± crowded, ascending, sessile or very nearly so. Lamina narrow-lanceolate, 25-50-(65) × 3-8-(10) mm., subcoriac., densely (sts sparsely) hairy, becoming glab.; margins ± entire in lower part, coarsely denticulate towards apex. Fls ± 6·5 mm. diam.; calyx-lobes lanceolate, villous; petals purplish, a little > calyx. Capsules 50-60 mm. or more long, rather stout, densely villous; peduncles 5-12 mm. long, ± pilose. Seeds densely papillose.

DIST.: N., S. Lowland to montane open ground, open grassland from near North Cape to lat. 45°.

FL.- FT. 10-3.

The only Cunningham specimen at K is a small branchlet with a fl. and 2 capsules.

Also in Australia and Tasmania. A rather polymorphic group of forms is at present included under this name.