Flora of New Zealand Series

Annual or short-lived perennial, glandular-viscid herb with stems to c. 80 cm tall. Basal lvs often with short winged petiole; cauline lvs sessile, amplexicaul, ± auriculate, decurrent on stem; lower lvs to c. 20 × 8 cm (larger in cultivation), broadly spathulate to elliptic, with dense hairs on veins below, otherwise hairs often sparse; apex acute or nearly so. False raceme few-flowered, lax; fls fragrant. Calyx 2-2.3 cm long, densely glandular-viscid; teeth 0.6-1 cm long, subulate, equal. Corolla pale greenish outside, white inside; tube 7-9 cm long, narrowly tubular-salverform and gradually widening in upper 1/2; lobes 1.5-2 cm long, not reflexed, obtuse to acute. Capsule c. 1.5 cm long, ovoid. Seed 0.9-1 mm long, ± broadly oblong, rugose.

N.: a small population in Tokaanu thermal area (Taupo County).

N.E. Argentina, S.E. Brazil 1988

Rough grassland on warm ground.

FL Oct-Mar.

N. alata is widely and commonly cultivated and can be expected to occur as a casual elsewhere. N. × sanderae is much commoner in cultivation, and this has also been collected wild (see under key). N. alata is related to N. sylvestris but the latter is a taller plant with larger lvs, a denser infl., short-acuminate calyx teeth and a narrowly fusiform corolla tube.