Montia.] VII. POBTULAGEAE. 65 



1. C. australasica, Hook. f. in Hook. Ic. PI. t. 293. Stems very slender, 

 creeping, iin.— 6in. long. Leaves alternate or in distant pairs, narrow-linear, 

 spathulate, obtuse, tender, iin.— ^in. long, with a wide sheathing base. Flowers 

 axillary, solitary or in a few-flowered lax raceme or cyme, longer or shorter than 

 the leaves, white or purplish, iin.— |in. in diameter. Sepals small. Capsule 

 equalling or exceeding the sepals. Seeds 3, black, shining. — Fl. N.Z. i. 72; 

 Fl. Tasm. i. 144.; Handbk. 27; Benth., Fl. Austr. i. 177. Var. biflora and 

 var. racemosa, Buch. in Trans. N.Z.I, iii. (1870) 210. 



NORTH Island : Ruahine Range and Ruapehu, S. Hill I W. E. Andrew ! SOUTH Island : 

 common in mountain districts from Nelson to Southland. Ascending to 5,000ft. ; descends to sea- 

 level on sandhills near Dunedin. 



* C. perfoliata, Bonn., Ind. Host. Cantab, ex Willd. Sp. PI. i. 1186. A tufted 

 glabrous rather succulent annual, 4:in.-9in. high. Eadical leaves spathulate-rhom- 

 boid; cauline 2, connate immediately beneath the short terminal raceme, forming a 

 flat almost orbicular involucre. Eaceme subverticillate, the two basal flowers on long 

 pedicels, the upper very short. Flowers few, small, white. Petals exceeding the 

 calyx. 



SOUTH Island : naturalised, Cheviot, Haast ! North America. 



2. MONTIA, Linn. 

 Sepals 2 or 3, persistent. Petals 5, connate at the base and split on one 

 side, perigynous. Stamens 3 or 5, adnate to the petals. Ovary superior ; 

 ovules 3. Capsule 3-valved. Seeds nearly orbicular. A small glabrous herb 

 with opposite leaves and axillary flowers. A monotypic genus, found in Europe, 

 western North America, South America, Labrador, Greenland, Tasmania, Ker- 

 guelen Land, and South Georgia. 



1. M. fontana, L., Sp. PI. 87. Stems usually tufted or matted, simple 



or branched, lin.— Sin. high, slender, weak. Leaves opposite, linear-lanceolate, 



elliptic or obovate, subacute. Flowers solitary or in 2— 3-flowpred racemes, 



drooping. Petals scarcely exceeding the sepals. — Fl. N.Z. i. 74, Handbk. 27. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands: from Rotorua to Stewart Island. AUCKLAND, CAMP- 

 BELL, ANTIPODES, and MAGQUARIB Islands. Sea-level to 4,000ft. 



3. HECTORELLA, Hook. f. 

 Sepals 2, short, continuous with the short broad flat pedicel. Petals 5, 

 coherent at the base, thickened near the tip. Stamens 5, adnate with the 

 corolla-tube, alternating with the petals ; filaments equalling the petals. 

 Anthers linear-oblong, 2-celled. Ovary ovoid, membranous, veined ; style 

 erect, divided into 1—3 linear stigmatose lobes ; ovules 4—5, erect from the 

 base of the cell, amphitropous, slender. Capsule membranous, equalling the 

 petals or nearly so. Seeds 2—4. A small densely-tufted glabrous plant, much 

 branched from the base. Leaves densely imbricated, entire, coriaceous. 

 Flowers nearly sessile or on very short peduncles amongst the terminal leaves. 



1. H. caespitosa, Hook. /., Handbk. N.Z. Fl. 27. Stems with leaves 

 iiu.— fin. in diameter, lin.— l^in. high. Leaves varying from broadlv triangular- 

 9 



