THE SNAP-DRAGON FAMILY 



385 



Fuegia. The beautiful white flowers, and large cordate leaves, 

 bear some slight resemblance to those of the Chinese Prim- 

 rose, and it is possibly on this account that 0. macrophyUa 

 is called by colonists, the New Zealand Primrose. The leaves 

 decrease in size, and become more coriaceous, the higher up 



Fig. 130. Ourisia macropliylla (h, nat. size) 



the mountains the plant is found. Thus Ourisia macrophijUa, 

 with large, tender leaves, up to six inches in length, is found 

 in damp shady places at lower altitudes, reaching nearly to 

 sea-level in Stewart Island. In Ourisia Colensoi, found on the 

 tops of the Ruahine Range in the North Island, and at an 

 altitude of 3,000 feet in the Waiau Mountains in the South 

 Island, the leaves are half an inch or less. In Ourisia 

 ccespitosa, found on the Southern Alps at altitudes of from 



