24 
VI. CARYOPHYLLEiE. 
[Slellaria. 
solitary, on short, stout peduncles. Sepals very large, lanceolate, acuminate, 
with 3 thick nerves. Petals much smaller than the sepals. Capsule sub- 
globose, much shorter than the sepals, 6-valved to the base. Seeds about 6, 
very large, pale brown, covered densely with long papillae. 
Middle Island : Nelson mountains, Rough ; Mount Torlesse, on shingle beds, alt. 4-6000 
ft., Haast ; shingle slips, Wairau Gorge, alt. 4-6500 ft., Travers. A very singular species, 
easily recognized by its large green flowers, quite uulike any other in habit. 
5. S. gracilenta, IIoolc. f. FI. N. Z. ii. 326. A wiry, rigid, loosely- 
tufted species, with suberect, nodose, scabrid stems, 2-4 in. high, and very 
long peduncles. Leaves opposite, each node bearing also a small fascicle of 
leaves, d in. long, subulate or linear, curved, obtuse or acute, glabrous, shining, 
the margins revolute to the midrib, leaving a deep furrow between them. 
Peduncles axillary in the upper leaves, solitary, 1 -flowered, 1-4 in. long, 
erect, wiry, 2-bracteolate in the middle. Flower i in. diam. Sepals linear- 
oblong, obtuse, with white, very broad, scarious margins. Petals 5. Capsule 
cylindric-oblong, much longer than the sepals, 6-valved to the base. Seeds 
8 to 10, yellow-brown, densely covered with long papillose hairs. 
Middle Island : Nelson, Bidwill ; Tarndale, Sinclair, Travers-, Kowai valley , Haast ; 
Mauuka Island, Munro ; Lake Tennyson, alt. 4400 ft., Travers ; Otago, alt. 2000 ft., 
Hector and Buchanan. A very peculiar species, at once recognized by its rigid, wiry habit, 
narrow leaves, and very long, erect, slender peduncles. 
<S. media, Sm., the common English “ Chickweed,” is naturalized in many parts of New 
Zealand, aud in Lord Auckland’s Island. It may be distinguished from its very near con- 
gener, 6 ’. decipiens, by the pubescent line on the stem and more panicled inflorescence. The 
seeds are black and tubercled. 
3. COLOBANTHUS, Bartling. 
Usually densely-tufted, rigid, green herbs, with subulate, opposite leaves, 
and solitary green flowers on short or long terminal scapes or peduncles. — Se- 
pals 4 or 5, coriaceous, erect. Petals 0. Stamens 4 or 5, perigynous, alter- 
nate with the sepals. Styles 4 or 5, opposite the sepals. Capsule ovoid, 
many-seeded. 
A southern genus, found only in Australia, New Zealand, the Andes of South America, 
and Antarctic regions. 
Leaves hardly rigid, in. with acute tips. Flower 4-merous . . 1. C. quitensis. 
Leaves rigid, long, 5 -I J in. with aeicular tips. Flower 5 -merous . . 2. C.Billardieri, 
Leaves very short, ^ in., subulate, with acicular tips 3. 6 '. subulatns. 
Leaves x in., polished, subulate, with very long acicular points . . . 4. C. acicularis. 
Leaves very short, in., linear, with obtuse tips 5. C. muscoides. 
1. C. quitensis, Bartl. A small, glabrous, perennial, much-branched, 
tufted, green herb, 1—2 in. high. Leaves chiefly radical, J in. long, subu- 
late, acute but not acicular (or very rarely so) at the tips, concave above, 
convex on the back, quite entire. Scapes longer- or shorter than the leaves, 
usually very short. Flowers 4-merous, y in. long. Sepals ovate, blunt, 
rarely acicular at the tip. 
Middle Island: Nelson mountains, Travers; clefts of rocks on the Kowai river, alt. 
1500 ft., Haast. Except in the rather smaller leaves, I can find no distinction between 
this and the S. American plant, which is found along the Andes from Mexico to Cape Horn, 
aud also iu Amsterdam Island in the S. Indian Ocean. It is very nearly allied to C. Bit- 
