Flora of New Zealand Series

Type locality: Lake Ohau. Type: W, 5091, Temple R., Lake Ohau, May 1951, H. Talbot.

Perennial closely branched herb forming us. green mat several cm. across, attached by central root system but with adventitious roots sts well developed. Internodes on main axes often > lvs and then short lfy laterals have tufted effect. Lvs 2.5-6 × 0·5 mm., subulate, acute and shortly mucronate, us. entire, sts minutely serrate on keel. Fls in pairs of uneven age sessile on top of common axillary peduncle, each fl. subtended by 2 membr. bracts. Sepals 5, acute; stamen 1 on very short ring, filament < sepal length. Fr. c. 1·7 × 0·8 mm. overall, broadest about middle, persistent sepals about half length of perig. cup; peduncles elongating to 10-15 mm., much > lvs when fr. is ripe, retaining after fr. falls the 4 cruciate membr. bracts, the outer and larger pair < 2 mm. across.

DIST.: S. Scattered records from Cape Farewell and Nelson mountains through Canterbury and Otago. Sand, riverbed, grassland, alpine bog, sealevel to 1500 m.

HYBRIDISM

Hybridism may be the cause of some irregularities where S. uniflorus and S. brockiei occur together, and the Lammermoor Mts record of S. biflorus may be based on such a hybrid. S. uniflorus and S. biflorus scarcely overlap in their known distribution but a few specimens from "Karioi near Ruapehu, Jan. 1901, Rev. R. H. Spencer" in A (4104) include several almost typical S. uniflorus plants and one resembling S. biflorus except that it has both single and paired fls.

FL. 11-1. FT. 12-3.