248 XXXVIII. EUBIACBAE. [Asperula. 



glabrate. Leaves win.— iin. long, broadly ovate, oblong or narrow-obovate, 



rounded or obtuse, usually hispid with scattered white hairs below and ciliate, 



glabrous above ; petiole shorter than the blade. Flowers as long as the leaves. 



Calyx-teeth 0. Corolla-tube funnel-shaped ; teeth 4^5, short, not recurved. 



Ovary and corolla-tube hispid. Drupe small, hispid, often with very little 



pulp or nearly dry. — Handbk. 120. N. pusilla, Col. in Trans. N.Z.I, xvi. 



(1883) 331. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands : from Hawke's Bay to Otago, but rare and local in the North ; 

 more frequent in the South. STEWAET Island, T. K. Oct., Nov. 



Easily distinguished by its hispid leaves, corollas, and fruits ; the fruits are often dry. 



3. ASPERULA, Linn. 



Calyx-limb 0. Corolla with a short but distinct tube and 4 spreading 

 lobes, valvate in the bud. Anthers exserted. Ovai-y 2-celled ; cells 1-ovuled. 

 Fruit indehiscent, small, dry, usually 2-lobed. Herbs, with slender angular 

 stems. Leaves usually in whorls of 4—8, of which 2—6 are stipules, which 

 assume the size and appearance of true leaves so closely that they cannot be 

 distinguished. Flowers solitary or oymose, axillary or terminal, rarely unisexual. 



A small genus, generally distributed through the temperate regions of the earth, but not repre- 

 sented in America or South Africa. It differs from Galium in the shape of the corolla. The only 

 New Zealand species is endemic. Name, from asper, in reference to the hispid leaves and stems of 

 many species. 



Stems lin.-4in. long. Flowers solitary or geminate . . . . .. 1. A. perpusilla. 



Stems 6in.-15in. long. Flowers in axillary cymes .. .. ..2. A. fragrantissima. 



1. A. perpusilla, Hook. /., Fl. N.Z. i. 114. A very slender glabrous 

 perennial. Stems Iin.— 4iu. long, branched, decumbent, filiform. Leaves 4 in 

 a whorl, 2^Qin.— y^in. long, lanceolate, acuminate, awned or obtuse, straight or 

 curved. Flowers solitary, axillary or terminal, often unisexual : males usually 

 shortly pedicelled ; female sessile, corolla-tube 4— 5-lobed, scarcely -^^ux. in 

 diameter. Stamens 4—5. Styles free at the tips and divergent. — Handbk. 131. 



Var. arlstifera (sp.), Ool. in Trans. N.Z.I, xxi. (1888) 88. Leaves aristate. Flowers mostly 

 pedicellate. GoroUa-lobes 5. Stamens 5. 



NOBTH and SOUTH Islands: from the Lower Waikato to Poveaux Strait. STEWART 

 Island, T. E. Plentiful in the South Island, rare and local in the North. Sea-level to 3,000ft. 

 Dec, Jan. 



2. A. fragrantissima, J. B. Armst. in Trans. N.Z.I, xiv. (1881) 359. ' 

 Stems slender, much branched, creeping, 6in.— 15in. long, forming broad dense 

 patches 1ft.— 3ft. across, glabrous or glandular-pubescent. Leaves in whorls 

 of 4, sessile, linear-oblong, obtuse or subacute, awnless, glandular, dotted, 

 slightly pubescent on both surfaces, flaccid when dry. " Flowers fragrant, very 

 numerous, in axillary clusters of 3—8, on branched peduncles ^^^in.— iin. long 

 or more." Calyx short. " Corolla jJLin.-iin. in diameter, campanulate, split 

 to below the middle into 4, rarely 5 or 3, rather broad obtuse lobes." " Styles 

 2, shorter than the stamens, united almost their entire length " ; tips divergent. 

 Stigmas unequal. Ovary glandular. Fruit not seen. 



