Flora of New Zealand Series

Type locality: "Mountains at the head of the Wairau valley, near Nelson, elev. 2,000 to 5,000 feet". Type: K, Bidwill.

Rhizome slender, branching, emitting us. ∞ rather distant lf-rosettes, in open shingly places 1-2 cm. diam., each with 1 peduncle. Lvs glaucous, thinly coriac., sparsely hispid; lamina elliptic- to lanceolate- or ovate-spathulate, sessile or shortly petiolate, midrib prominent below; margins cartilaginous, white. Lvs of plants of arid places minute, c. 5 × 1-2 mm.; peduncles 3-4 cm. tall; fls drooping, c. 1 × 1 cm. Lvs of plants of less arid places c. 15-20 mm., including petiole = lamina; peduncles c. 10 cm. long, with fls 1·5 × 1·5 cm. Growing amongst tussocks or in sheltered places the plants may grow large, with peduncles up to 25 cm. tall, with a few small bracts; lvs glaucous to purplish, subentire; lamina 10-40 × 5-10 mm., elliptic to ovate, sub-acute, often apiculate--the slender stiff petiole may reach twice length lamina. Fls large, erect or inclined, up to 2*5-3 cm. In all cases the floral proportions are the same. Corolla sts with deeper-coloured veins. Calyx-lobes c. 1/2 length corolla-tube, linear, acuminate, 0·5-1 mm. wide. Capsule obconic, 8 × 4 mm. when well-developed.

DIST.: S., St. Upper Valleys of Wairau, Awatere, Clarence Rivers; Mounts Tapuaenuku and Terako. Coastally Flaxbourne Creek, Broken River. Montane to subalpine Canterbury southwards to St.

Again, the whole complex needs further study before the forms can be resolved.

Specimens from the southern part of the range have narrower, less glaucous lvs than those of Marlborough.

W. flexilis Petrie in T.N.Z.I. 49, 1917, 51 is described: "Stems several from the top of a long slender root, very slender, usually with long internodes, flexuous, terete, glabrous, 4-8 in. long, more or less branched near the base and at the tops, the branches often loosely interlaced. Leaves in opposite distant pairs on the lower part of the stem, alternate higher up and often more or less crowded at the tops, variable in size and outline, 3/4-11/2 in. long, 1/4 in. in greatest width, narrow lanceolate-spathulate or almost linear, gradually narrowed to the base, acute (rarely subacute), entire, glabrous thin or slightly coriaceous, edges somewhat cartilaginous . . . Peduncles terminal, 4-6 in. long, filiform, glabrous, 1-flowered, with or without one or two short linear bracts. Flowers ± 5/6 in. long; calyx narrow, one-fifth as long as the corolla, cut half-way down into 5 linear-subulate lobes; corolla funnel-shaped, cut for one-third its length into 5 triangular acute lobes; style ending in 2 rather long arms that are recurved when mature; capsule obconic, 1/4 in. long, usually 2-celled. Hab.--Higher parts of Clarence Valley, Inland Kaikouras, Marlborough: end of December, 1915: B. C. Aston!" Type: W, 4706, B. C. Aston.