Flora of New Zealand Series

E. melanocaulon var. polyclonum (Hauss.) Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 1906, 183.

Stock hard, woody, emitting one or more stems; branches us. opp., spreading to suberect, blackish, up to 25 cm. long; branchlets very slender, spreading at wide angle, then ascending, bifariously pubescent. Lvs opp. except in floral region, subpatent, rather distant, on very slender petioles seldom as much as 1 mm. long. Lamina ovate- to narrow-oblong 4-10 × 2-5 mm., subcoriac., glab.; margins rather coarsely toothed, often reddish. Fls ± 3 mm. diam.; calyx a little < petals, lobes ovate to lanceolate; petals white. Capsules arcuate, glab., erubescent, slender, ± 20-30 mm. long; peduncles 3-4 mm. long. Seeds densely papillose.

DIST.: Lowland to subalpine riverbeds and sandy places. N. Orongorongo River, Wellington, R. Mason. S. Local from lat. 44°-45°, east of divide.

FL.- FT. 12-3.

Haussknecht based his sp. on material collected "ad Otago alt. 7000 ft. s. m. in glareosis torrentium leg. Hector et Buchanan m. Mart. 1863 (Hb. Hook. sub E. alsinoides mixt. c. E. thymifolio)." The sheet at K has 5 pieces referable to polyclonum. The label reads: "E. alsinoides Otago 1863 Hector and Buchanan March." A separate label has "dry river beds no. 3" and a blue one "No. 10. alt. 7000 ft., March." The status and distribution remain uncertain. Certainly some of the forms in the bed of the upper Awatere belong to E. erectum × melanocaulon, as may the specimens from the Orongorongo River.