Euphrasia petriei Ashwin
E. revoluta auct. p.p. non Hook. f.
Type locality: Mt. Moltke. Type: W, 8516, W. R. B. Oliver, 22 Jan. 1951.
Tufted perennial herb sts arising from woody stock; stems woody at base, much-branched, prostrate or decumbent, rooting at nodes, branches erect, 2-8-(12) cm. tall, bifariously or occ. uniformly pubescent. Lvs sessile, crowded or occ. distant, 5-10-(15) × 3-6-(8) mm., obovate-cuneate to broadly obovate or suborbicular, unequally 3-lobed at tip with obtuse to subacute terminal lobe, or more evenly and acutely 3-5-(7)-toothed, surfaces glab., margins thickened, sts ciliate with glandular or non-glandular hairs. Fls few clustered at tips of branches on short hidden pedicels, or in more elongated raceme with obvious pedicels sts = lvs. Calyx 5-9 mm. long, us. Glandular-hairy and white-pubescent, sts almost glab., evenly or subevenly divided 1/4-⅓ way. Corolla white, 8-12-20 mm. long and diam.; tube > calyx; lobes of lower lip up to 8 mm. wide and emarginate or not > 4 mm. wide and entire. Anthers red-brown, margins hairy, awns us. slightly unequal. Capsule < or = calyx, 4-8 × 3·5-5 mm., ± oval, glab.; seeds ∞.
DIST.: S. Common in subalpine open and rocky places on mountains of main divide from the Arthur Pass region to western Otago and Fiordland.
The rather variable range of forms grouped here are similar in habit to E. revoluta or E. laingii but differ distinctly from both in the shape of the lvs and the glandular pubescence of the calyx. In this latter character and in habit they resemble E. townsonii but differ from that sp. in lf-shape and short pedicels. The sp. is named for Donald Petrie who took a special interest in N.Z. Euphrasiae and described many spp.
Fl-size varies greatly and can be used to divide the sp. into 2 ± geographically separated forms:
In Canterbury and N.W. Otago corollas are us. very large, (10)-15-20 mm. long and diam., with lobes of lower lip 4-8 mm. wide, bluntly expanded at tip and emarginate. Lvs are sts densely ciliate and the plants may be up to 12 cm. tall. This form (which includes the type) often occurs in company with E. revoluta sens. strict. and many mixed collections have been made. Even if the distinctive glandular pubescence is absent E. petriei is us. easily separated by its very differently shaped lvs, larger fls and stouter habit. However occ. specimens combine characters of both spp. and hybridism may be a factor contributing to the variability of E petriei in this part of its range.
In Fiordland and western Otago south of c. lat. 44° corollas are much smaller, c. 8-12 mm. long and diam., with lobes of lower lip only 2-4 mm. wide and entire. Lvs are always glab. and the plants rarely > 5 cm. tall, though an anomalous collection from Clinton Saddle (W 4848) referred by Petrie to E. australis consists of luxuriant plants up to 10 cm. tall with distant lvs and long pedicels. Dwarf densely tufted forms which have been collected on the Hector Mts and Mt. Pisa appear very distinct but are probably only epharmonic modifications. This form could receive varietal recognition, but as there is a possibility that Hooker's E. antarctica var. major and/or var. grandiflora belong here no new epithet is given.
