478 CONVOLVULACES. [Convolvulus. 
Canterbury Plains, Armstrong! Kirk! Mackenzie Plains and Lake Tekapo, 
DAP: C. Otago—Not uncommon in the central and eastern districts, Buchanan! 
Petrie ! Sea-level to 3000ft. December—March. 
A remarkably variable little plant, closely allied to the common C. arven 
sis, L., of the Northern Hemisphere. 
4. DICHONDRA, Forst. 
Small prostrate or creeping perennial herbs. Leaves orbicular- 
cordate or reniform, entire. Flowers small, solitary, axillary. 
Sepals subequal, distinct to the base. Corolla broadly campanu- 
late, deeply 5-lobed; lobes induplicate. Stamens shorter than the 
corolla; filaments filiform; anthers small. Ovary of 2 distinct 
lobes or carpels, each 1-celled with a basal style and 1 or 2 ovules. 
Capsules 2, membranous, erect, 1- or rarely 2-seeded, indehiscent 
or bursting irregularly. 
A small genus of 4 or 5 species, widely spread in tropical and subtropical 
countries. 
Leaves }-lin. diam. Corolla shorter than the calyx or 
barely equalling it .. .. IL. D. repens. 
Leaves 4-}in. diam. Corolla much longer than the calyx 2. D. brevifolia. 
1. D. repens, Forst. Char. Gen. 39, t. 20.—A small silky-pubes- 
cent creeping herb; stems slender, 2-12in. long, rooting at the 
nodes, branched, often forming broad matted patches. Leaves 
alternate or tufted at the nodes, usually on long petioles; blade 
#-1lin. diam., reniform, emarginate or rounded at the apex, silky 
on both surfaces. Peduncles as long or longer than the peti- 
oles. Flowers small, greenish-yellow, about 4in. diam. Sepals 
obovate, silky. Corolla about equalling the sepals, rarely slightly 
longer. Capsules enclosed in the persistent calyx and shorter than 
it.—Forst. Prodr. n. 184: A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 201; A. Cunn.. 
Precur. n. 397; Raoul, Choix, 44; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 185; 
Handb. N.Z. Fl. 199; Benth. Fl. Austral. iv. 438. 
NortH AnD SoutH Isnanps, CHATHAM IsnLANDs: Abundant from the: 
North Cape to Otago. Sea-level to 2500 ft. Spring and early summer. 
A widely spread plant in the tropical and subtropical districts of both hemi- 
~pheres, extending northwards to the United States on one side and China on the 
other. 
2. D. brevifolia, Buch. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. iii. (1871) 208.— 
Much smaller and more densely matted than D. repens, often form- 
ing a compact turf. Leaves on short stout petioles ; blade +in. 
diam., orbicular-oblong or reniform, emarginate or rounded at the 
apex, cordate at the base, rather thick, silky on both surfaces or 
alinost glabrous. Peduneles stout, erect, usually longer than the 
leaves. Flowers larger than in D. repens, +in. diam., yellowish. 
