58 VI. CARYOPHYLLEAE. \_Stellaria. 



Leaves ovate, acute or acuminate, the lower only shortly petioled. Flowers in axil- 

 lary cymes. Pedicels very slender, spreading or reflexed in fruit, glandular, hairy. 

 Petals shorter than the sepals, deeply 2-fid, rarely 0. Stamens 3-10. Capsule 

 scarcely exceeding the sepals. Seeds punctate or tubercled. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands ; STEWART Island ; AUCKLAND and MACQUARIE Islands : 

 naturalised in oool soils. 



4. S. elatinoides, Hook, f., Fl. N.Z. i. 25. Annual. Glabrous, tufted. 

 Stems iin.— liin. high, much branched. Leaves narrow-oblong or linear, 

 narrowed into a short petiole, subacute, jJoin.— ^in. long. Flowers equalling or 

 slightly exceeding the peduncles, short, erect. Sepals lanceolate or narrow- 

 ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, with prominent white membranous margins. Petals 

 0. Stamens 10. Capsule ovoid or globose, equalling the sepals, 6-valved to 

 the middle ; valves scarcely 2-fid. Seeds 6-12, tubercled. — Handbk. 23. 



NORTH Island : Cape Kidnappers ; Lake Rotoafcara, Hawke's Bay ; Colenso. SOUTH 

 Island: Sowburn, 1,200ft. ; Kurow ; Taapeka Mouth ; Petrie I Very local. 



This plant has not been collected in the North Island since its original discovery by Colenso. 

 In the Hankbook the ovary is said to be globose : it is clearly ovoid in all the Otago specimens. 



* S. graminea, L., S?;. PL 422. A slender straggling glabrous perennial. 

 Steins angular, lft.-2ft. long. Leaves linear-lanceolate, sessile, acute, ciliate. Flowers 

 few or many in paniculate cymes. Pedicels slender ; bracts ciliate. Sepals equal- 

 ling or shorter than the petals, lanceolate, acute or acuminate, ciliate, 3-nerved. 

 Petals 2-partite, rarely 0. Capsule ovoid, slightly exceeding the sepals. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands : naturalised in many localities, but rarely abundant. Grassy- 

 leaved chickweed. Specimens from Otahuhu have slightly soabrid stems. Nov. to Jan. Europe. 



* S. uliginosa, Murray, Prod Stirp. Gott. 55. Stems weak, smooth, angled, 

 2in.-lGin. long. Leaves lanceolate or elliptical, ascending, acute ; tip callous. 

 Cymes terminal or axillary. Flowers 1-6. Sepals lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, ex- 

 ceeding the 2-partite petals. Capsule ovoid, shorter than the calyx. 



RUAPUKE Island, Foveaux Strait : naturalised in bogs. Mrs. A. W. Traill ! Swamp 

 chickweed. Nov., Dec. Europe. 



5. S. Roughii, Hook. /., Handbk. N.Z. Fl. 23. Stems erect, 2in.-4in. 

 high, dichotomously branched, glaucous, succulent. Leaves 4in.— lin. long, 

 linear, acuminate, 1-nerved, fleshy. Flowers iin. diameter or more, on stout 

 terminal peduncles. Sepals very long, almost foliaceous, lanceolate, acuminate, 

 strongly 3-nerved. Petals much shorter than the sepals, deeply 2-partite. 

 Stamens 10. Capsule broadly oblong, much shorter than the petals, 6-valved to 

 below half-way downj valves not 2-fid. Seeds 10-12 or more, large, strongly 

 papillose. 



SOUTH Island: Nelson: Dun Mountain Range, Bough I Wai];'au Gorge, Travers. Mount 

 Captain, T. K. Canterbury: Mount Torlesse, Haast. Leith Hill, &c., J. D. Enys ! 4,000£t. to 

 6,500ft. Nov. to Jan. 



A remarkably local alpine plant, which cannot be mistaken for any other. Chiefly found on 

 shingle slips. 



6. S. gracilenta, Hook. /., Fl. N.Z. ii. 326. A wiry slender tufted 

 plant. Stems lft.-4ft. high, nodose, scabrid, often matted, forming a more or 

 less compact mass. Leaves iin. long, more or less recurved, acute or subacute 

 or apiculate, usually with revolute margins ; each axil with a small fascicle of 



