Flora of New Zealand Series

M. orbiculata Simpson in T.R.S.N.Z. 79, 1952, 425.

Perennial herb us. with adventitious roots on decumbent lateral branches. Rosette-lvs 1·5-3·5 × 0·5-1·5 cm., lamina orbicular to broadly ovate, mucronate, us. shorter than the slender well-defined petiole; hairs short, straight. ± appressed, not crowded, us. similar on both surfaces. Lateral branches 5-30 cm. long, themselves branched and sts bearing subsidiary rosettes distal to the fls; internodes = or > lvs. Stem-lvs orbicular to broad-elliptic, 5-20 mm. long, shortly petiolate; hairs like those of rosette-lvs. Fls borne singly, each associated with a If, sts 6-10 suceeding one another over a length of 10 cm. or more; pedicels 2-6 mm. long in fr. Calyx 1-3 mm. long, lobed almost to base, lobes narrow, acute, spreading in fr.; hairs spreading, scattered over lobes and base, not uniform in size, the largest ± hooked. Corolla white, 1-3 mm. diam., tube cylindric, lobes spreading but not flat; filaments fixed about level of small scales, carrying anthers halfway up lobes; anthers much <1mm. long; style little > mature calyx in fr.; stigma clavate. Nutlets ± 1 mm. long, brown.