Flora of New Zealand Series

Type locality: S. Headwaters of Haehaetemoana River, Four Peaks Range, South Canterbury. Type: BD 51404, R. Mason, 31-3-45.

Stems slender, rigid, erect, up to 40 cm. tall, finely pubescent when young, sparingly ± virgately branched. Lvs mostly alt., distant to remote on petioles 2-5 mm. long; lamina 10-(15) × 6-8 mm., elliptic-ovate, very finely pubescent; fls distributed along branchlets for ± 15 cm.

DIST.:

HYBRIDISM

Clapham (Fl. Brit. Isles 1952, 607) states: "Hybrids arise freely within the genus Epilobium, a high proportion of all the possible combinations having been reported from the British Is. They are almost invariably sterile." But casual attention has been given to the matter in N.Z. Hooker (Fl. N.Z. 1, 1852, 57) says: "I have carefully studied all the southern forms of Epilobia on several occasions, and must own that I know no good limits between the majority of the species; especially of the New Zealanders." In his Handbk N.Z. Fl. 1864, 76, he says: "The species are, without exception of locality or country, extremely variable, and probably hybridize." Kirk (Stud. Fl. 1899, 167) says: "They are extremely variable in all countries, and hybrid forms are not infrequent." He cites only the 3 groups recognized by Haussknecht which Focke (Pflanzen-Mischlinge 1881, 162) had published on Haussknecht's authority: junceum × pubens, billardierianum × junceum, hirtigerum × junceum.

Cheeseman (Man. N.Z. Fl. 1925, 599) says of the N.Z. spp., "the amount of variation is inordinately great." He makes no reference to hybridism. Cockayne and Allan (Ann. Bot., Lond. 48, 1934, 32) list 13 hybrid groups, but without supporting evidence. They considered that E. perplexum Kirk was probably in part based on the cross E. glabellum × pubens. I have observed in the Upper Awatere a population in which E. erectum and E. melanocaulon grow together. There were a number of linking forms, some closely resembling E. polyclonum. It may be that in other stations for E. polyclonum both E. erectum and E. melanocaulon occur. W. B. Brockie has made artificial crosses and has raised F2 progenies. The whole problem needs exact study.