40'- 



PLANTS (.)F NEW ZEALAND 



Ken '0 *''^ Genera. 



Snb-Family Caiupaiiuloideae : Flowers regular. Anthers 

 usually free. Corolla bell-shaped, stamens free. 



Sut>Family Lobelioideae : Flowers irregular. .\nthers 

 united. 



Fruit, a coriaceous capsule. J-valyed at the top. 



Fruit a berrj'. 



A tall herb, with flowers in racemes, and large leaves. 



Small creeping plants with prostrate sterns. 



fXot further described. 



Wahlenbergia, p. 402. 



Lobelia, p. 403. 



Colensoa, p. 404. 

 t Pratia. 



Geii UH Wahlexhercjia. 



Erect or ascending, generally' glabrous, milk}' herbs. Flowers terminal, 

 drooping in the bud, white or V)liie. Calyx-lobes 3-5 ; corolla bell-shaped, 

 5-lobed. Staurens .5, epigynous, with filaments dilated at the base. Ovary 2-.5- 

 celled. Style simple, hairy at the top. Stigmas 2 or 3. (Named after a 

 Swedish botanist.) This genus largely takes the place in south temperate 

 regions of the North Temperate Campanula. 3 sp. 



Wahlenbergia gracilis (The Graceful Blue-hell). 



A slender annual. Stem 1 in. -24 in. high, angular, branches terminating in 

 slender l-flo\vered peduncles. Leaves J in. -2 in. long, radical, spathulate, 

 petioled, toothed ; cauline sessile, linear oblong. Flowers variable in size and 

 form. Corolla /j 'm.-\ in. long; blue, purplish, or white. Abundant throughout 

 the islands, up to 4000 ft. Fl. Oct. -Mar. 



W. sa.ricola has larger aird more beautiful flowers, and is comnron in the 

 hilly and sul;)-alpine districts of Otago. 



W. f/racilis is one of tlie cominunest of tiowers in dry 

 situations on open plains, and grassy hill-sides. It might be 

 described as the New Zealand blue-bell, except that the 

 application of the term to a flower, which is more often white 

 than l)lue, is scarcely appropriate. The colour, though 

 commonly a ding\' white, varies in shade from white to deep 

 blue. In Tasmania and Australia, where the plant is also 

 aljundant, the colour of the corolla is generally brighter than 

 in New Zealand specimens. W. cartilaginea is a curious 

 little sweet-scented mountain species, found in Nelson. The 

 coriaceous petioles, with cartilaginous margins, short stout 

 scapes, and low habit, are highly characteristic of an alpine 

 plant. 



