Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/182

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142
CRASSULACEÆ.
[Tillæa.

cuneate. Carpels 4, turgid; styles oblique, slightly recurved. Seeds 3–4, rarely more.—Kirk, Students' Fl. 142. T. novæ-zealandiæ, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxv. (1893) 270; Kirk, l.c. 142.

Var. obtusa.—Stems stouter, creeping, 1–2 in. long or more. Leaves longer, more acute. Flowers rather larger; petals rounded.—T. novæ-zealandiæ var. obtusa, Kirk, l.c.

North Island: Matata, Bay of Plenty, Petrie! South Island: Nelson to Southland, not uncommon in watery places. Sea-level to 3000 ft. Var. obtusa: Lake Waihola, Otago, Petrie!

I have felt compelled to reduce Mr. Petrie's T. novæ-zealandiæ to this species. The type specimens in his herbarium only differ from the ordinary state of T. Sinclairii in being stouter, with thicker and more acute leaves; but these are not characters on which a specific distinction can be based. The flowers and fruit appear identical in both.


5. T. pusilla, T. Kirk, Students' Fl. 143.—Stems numerous, very slender and delicate, prostrate and rooting, 1–3 in. long, forming broad pale-green matted patches. Leaves minute, in distant pairs, connate at the base, 1/151/10 in. long, linear or linear-lanceolate, obtuse or acute, spreading or reflexed, thin. Flowers minute, 1/15 in. diam.; peduncles longer or shorter than the leaves. Calyx-lobes ovate-oblong, acute. Petals rather longer, acute or subacute. Stamens equalling the petals. Scales 4, linear-cuneate. Carpels 4, turgid; styles recurved. Seeds 2–4.

North Island: Muddy banks of the Northern Wairoa, T. F. C.; Kawakawa, Bay of Islands, Kirk; Wairoa Falls, Hunua, Kirk! T. F. C! Petrie!

Distinguished from T. Sinclairii by the different habit, longer much-branched stems, more distant thin and pointed leaves, and shorter narrower petals.


6. T. acutifolia, T. Kirk, Students' Fl. 143.—Stems very slender, almost capillary, prostrate and rooting, much and intricately branched, forming pale-green matted patches. Leaves minute, in distant pairs, connate at the base, 1/151/12 in. long, narrow-linear or linear-lanceolate, acute or apiculate, thin. Flowers minute, 1/201/15 in. diam., on peduncles shorter than the leaves. Calyx deeply divided; segments linear-lanceolate, acuminate. Petals narrow-ovate, shorter than the calyx. Scales 4, minute. Carpels 4, ovoid, turgid; styles recurved. Mature seeds not seen.

North Island: Hurunuiorangi, Kirk! South Island: Winton Forest, Southland, Kirk!

This has precisely the habit of T. pusilla, but appears to differ in the narrower and more acute leaves, and in the calyx-lobes exceeding the petals. I have seen no specimens except those in Mr. Kirk's herbarium, which are few and incomplete.


7. T. multicaulis, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xix. (1887) 324.—A minute slender much-branched reddish-purple plant; stems prostrate or decumbent below, ascending at the tips. Leaves opposite or in opposite fascicles, remote below, close-set and often imbricating above, connate at the base, 1/151/12 in. long, ovate-subulate,