Flora of New Zealand Series

O. crassifolia A. Cunn. loc. cit. p. 317.

Stems rather rigid, lflts rather fleshy, pilose.

DIST.: Uncertain, occurs in North Auckland.

The sp. as at present understood is remarkably polymorphic and still far from being adequately studied. The range is almost world wide, but there is great uncertainty as to where the forms are indigenous and where introduced.

Cunningham (Ann. nat. Hist. 3, 1839, 315-7) described as spp. the following:

A. Plant caespitose

(a) Fls white- O. cataractae : "On rocks beneath the Great Fall of the Keri-Keri river.-1826, A. Cunningham."

(b) Fls yellow- O. crassifolia : "Shores of the Bay of Islands.-1833, R. Cunningham."

B. Plant erect

(a) Lflts subdenticulate- O. urvillei : "River Thames.-1827, D'Urville. Among fern at the Bay of Islands.-1833, R. Cunningham."

(b) Lflts entire- O. lacicola : "Margins of the lake near Waimate, Bay of Islands.-1833, R. Cunningham."

C. Plant procumbent or decumbent

(a) Lflt margins ciliate

1. Stems sparsely hairy- O. tenuicaulis : "Among fern, on the shores of the Bay of Islands.-1833, R. Cunningham."

2. Stems pilose- O. ciliifera : "Shores of the Bay of Islands, between Waimate and Keri-Keri.-1833, R. Cunningham."

(b) Lflt margins very thinly scabrid, plant with white hairs- O. propinqua : "In bogs at Hokianga. -1833, R. Cunningham."

(c) Margins entire

1. Plant decumbent; petioles > peduncles- O. exilis : "Bay of Islands.-1833, R. Cunningham."

2. Plant procumbent: petioles c. 1/2 length peduncles- O. divergens : "On the sea-shore near Matauri, opposite the Cavallos Isles.-1833, R. Cunningham."

The specimens at K are hardly adequate for any decisions to be made. Hooker (Fl. N.Z. 1, 1852, 42) includes all but O. cataractae under O. corniculata, and suggests that the different forms "are mainly due to trifling local causes". It is probable that habitat differences have considerable influence, but no work has been done.