Flora of New Zealand Series

Herbs or subshrubs, rarely tall shrubs, often with milky sap. Lvs simple, alternate, exstipulate. Fls solitary or in racemes, spikes or panicles, usually ⚥, zygomorphic. Calyx 5-lobed, adnate to ovary. Corolla gamopetalous, the 5 lobes variously united, 1-2-lipped, valvate. Stamens 5, sometimes epipetalous, otherwise inserted at base of corolla; anthers cohering and forming a tube around style. Ovary ± inferior, 2-3-locular, with numerous ovules; style simple or 2-lobed, with ring of hairs. Fr. fleshy and berry-like or capsular. Seeds many, small; endosperm copious.

c. 25 genera, 400 spp. Widespread, especially in subtropical and tropical montane regions.

The indigenous spp. of Isotoma and Hypsela are mostly small prostrate creeping plants of damp or wet places, often in partially modified communities.