Flora of New Zealand Series

Original localities: "Acheron and Clarence Rivers, Nelson, 4000 ft." Type: K, Travers; the exact locality is not stated.

Stolons us. below surface, branched, up to ± 3 dm. long. Lvs. on slender, slightly concave petioles up to 7 cm. long, rather sparsely hairy. Lamina dark green, 12-35 × 15-35 mm., about broad-ovate to suborbicular, cuneate to truncate or subcordate at base, rounded at apex, sts obscurely 2-3-lobed, subcoriac.; margins rather coarsely dentateapiculate; indumentum sparse, mainly on veins, or absent. Staminate infl. up to 7 cm. long, ♂ with minute bracts, calyx-lobes minute. ♀ with slender styles up to 3 mm. long. Drupes obconic to pyriform, spreading, compacted into clusters ± 10 mm. diam., dark red, 2-3 mm. long.

Dist.: S. Upper reaches of Acheron and Clarence Rivers, Lake Tennyson, Craigieburn Range. Montane to subalpine bogs and damp grassland, often creeping through sphagnum.

FL. 12-2. FT. 1-4.

In the type folder are two sheets-(a) the Travers specimens, 8 pieces, include fls and frs. Lvs almost glab., lamina ± 15 × 15-20 mm., rather regularly dentate, truncate to subcordate, drupes as described; (b) "Craigeburn Mts, alt. 3400 ft. L. Cockayne." Two small plants, accepted by Schindler as G. densiflora. In W are specimens collected by A. Wall, Dec. 1917 in the gorge of Hog's Back Creek, Broken River; lvs rather coarsely dentate; Staminate infl. 5-8 cm. long.

Kirk (T.N.Z.I. 27, 1895, 346) based his description on specimens collected by himself "on blown sand, Cape Farewell, Nelson", and on "Seventy-mile Beach, Canterbury" by Buchanan. He remarks: "I suspect that the inland plant from Acheron and Clarence referred to this in the Handbook belongs to G. dentata." He describes his var. depressa as: "Leaves shorter and broader than in the type, often sub-orbicular; scapes shorter than the leaves; drupes smaller, clavate when fully ripe. Flowers not seen. Hab. Southand; T. Waugh!" I have been unable to locate the specimens, but in Stud. Fl. 1899, he refers them to G. arenaria.

For detailed accounts see Laing in T.N.Z.I. 44, 1912, 65 (Lake Tennyson plant) and Cockayne in T.N.Z.I. 50, 1918, 173 (Craigieburn Mountains plant), where the relationship to G. cordifolia of Tasmania is discussed.