Flora of New Zealand Series

Type locality: Mount Tongariro. Type: K, J. C. Bidwill.

Perennial with rather stout root, stock simple to multicipital; stems us. several to many, simple or branched, (2.5)-5-10-(15) cm. tall. Basal lvs ∞, crowded in rosulate tufts; lamina coriac., ± fleshy, ± 10-15 × 5-7 mm., elliptic-spathulate to narrowly obovate-spathulate, obtuse, narrowed to petiole ± 5 mm. long. Cauline lvs 3-4 similar smaller pairs, subsessile. Fls terminal, solitary or in 2-6-fld umbelliform cymes ± 4 cm. diam. Calyx 8-9 mm. long, c. 1/2 length corolla, cut at least 3/4 way into subulate subacute lobes, sinus narrow. Corolla 15-18 mm. long, rotate to subcampanulate, white with fine purple veins, divided at least 3/4 way into obovate-oblong obtuse lobes.

DIST.: N., S. Montane to subalpine damp grassland and boggy places from Mount Hikurangi southwards.

A polymorphic sp. not at all well resolved. The following described vars and spp. need further study as to their status.

Var. australis Petrie ex Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 1925, 732. "Stouter, often forming short dense patches 3-5 in. diam. Flowers abundantly produced, large, often quite 1 in. diam." Cheeseman says: " var. australis appears to be not uncommon on high peaks on the mountains of the western coast of the South Island, from Karamea to Westport, Westland, and south-west Otago." Specimens collected by Petrie and others placed in herbaria under this name ± agree with the above diagnosis.

Var. pulchella Kirk in T.N.Z.I. 27, 1895, 336 is described thus: "Stems erect, slender, 3 in.-6 in. high. Radical leaves ovate-spathulate or narrow oblong-spathulate, petioles slender, exceeding the blade; cauline few, sessile. Flowers in terminal, involucrate umbels, rarely terminal, or the lower cymose. Pedicels exceeding the leaves. Calyx half the length of the corolla; sepals oblong, obtuse or subacute. Hab. South Island: Arthur's Pass, and other localities in the Canterbury Alps; 2,500 ft.-3,000 ft." It is not mentioned by Cheeseman. The type sheet (W 4717, Arthur's Pass, T. Kirk) has 3 rather ill-matched plants all rather sturdy and with corymbose infls, pedicels much > bracts. Another sheet (W 4718, Rakaia, Haast) also labelled by Kirk as var. pulchella has three small plants with solitary terminal fls. A Kirk specimen rather intermediate between these, from Arthur's Pass, is in Cheeseman's G. patula folder (A 7246).

G. flaccida Petrie in T.N.Z.I. 43, 1911, 255 is thus described: "A slender flaccid apparently perennial herb, not branched, erect, ± 10 cm. high; root rather stout. Radical leaves numerous, 2-3 cm. long, thin, obovate-spathulate, gradually narrowed into rather broad flaccid petioles twice as long as the blades. Cauline leaves similar to the radical, but with shorter petioles or almost sessile; the upper in opposite pairs, the topmost pair acute. Flower solitary, terminal, ± 2 cm. long. Calyx green, divided for three-quarters its length into thin linear acute lobes with an evident midrib. Stamens as long as the calyx; pistil rather longer. Fruit not seen. Hab.- End Peak, Lake Hauroko. I have seen only a single specimen of this plant, but it is so clearly distinct from any of its native congeners that I feel little hesitation in describing it. It is, of course, uncertain if the specimen I have seen represents the typical form of the plant. Its nearest ally is G. lineata T. Kirk, a plant that was first collected by myself on Stewart Island in 1877. The present species was collected by Mr. J. Crosby Smith, F.L.S." Type: W, 4713. Cheeseman (Man. N.Z. Fl. 1925, 732) accepts the sp. and adds "Sealy Range, Mount Cook district, Petrie!" He comments: "Mr. Petrie considers this to be nearest G. lineata, from which it appears to me to be widely different. I should place it in the vicinity of G. bellidifolia." It is possibly a habitat form of that sp.

G. amabilis Petrie in T.N.Z.I. 56, 1926, 14 : "A dwarf herb 4-5 cm. high, perennial (?) growing in boggy ground. Stems solitary, slender, dark brown, erect or more or less flexuous, often laterally placed through rapid growth of a side shoot (rarely once divided and bearing 2 flowers); radical leaves subspathulate, with narrow more or less elliptic thin acute entire blades, 1·5 cm. (⅝in.) long and 6 mm. wide, and somewhat flattened slightly expanded at base; petioles equalling blades or shorter; cauline in 2 rather distant pairs, narrower and smaller, sessile or nearly so; flowers solitary, terminal, large for so small a plant, white, 1*8 cm. (3/4 in.) long and as wide; calyx scarcely half as long as corolla, cut halfway down into broad-based acute lobes; corolla deeply divided, segments broadly obovate; stamens half as long as corolla; anthers flattened and expanding below; pistil about equalling stamens; stigma shortly 2-lobed. Hab.-Bogs at the top of Mount Tennyson, Garvie Range, Southland, 4,800 ft.: W. A. Thomson! Mr. Thomson has supplied a good series of specimens, which are most uniform in their characters." Type: W, 4712.