Colobanthus .] 
VI. CARYOPHYLLEjE. 
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lardieri, but that is a more rigid plaut, with 5-merous flowers and acicular tips to the leaves 
and sepals. I have an alpine Tasmanian state of C. Billardieri , with foliage and sepals of 
C. quitensis, but pentamerous flowers. I suspect all are varieties of one plant. 
2. C. Billardieri, Fenzl ; — FI. N. Z. i. 27. A small, quite glabrous, 
often tufted plant, with numerous subulate, spreading or r.ecurved radical 
leaves and long peduncles ; rarely low, densely tufted, with shorter leaves and 
scapes. Leaves usually in. long, like those of C. quitensis, but with 
acicular tips. Peduncles often 2 in. long. Flowers £— £ in. long, green, 
usually 5-merous. Sepals ovate, with acicular apices, longer or shorter than 
the capsule. — Spergula affinis, Hook. Ic. PI. t. 266; S. apetala, Labill. FI. 
Nov. Holl. t. 142. 
Common throughout the islands, especially in alpine or hilly districts, Colenso, etc. 
Campbell’s Island, J. 1). H. Small varieties closely resemble the preceding. Abundant in 
Victoria and Tasmania. 
3. C. subulatus, Hook.f. FI. Antarct. i. 13 and 247. t. 93. A small, 
moss-like, densely csespitose, perfectly glabrous plant, with subulate, rigid, 
shining leaves, forming tufts about 1 in. high. Leaves densely imbricated, 
about ~ in. long, with acicular points, grooved above, convex on the back. 
Peduncles very short. Flowers hidden amongst the leaves. Sepals 4 or 5, 
ovate-subulate, with acicular apices, rigid. 
Middle Island : Awatere valley, and rocky places, Sinclair' range, alt. 4000 ft., Sinclair 
vnd Haast ; Otago, Lake district, Hector and Buchanan ; Campbell’s Island, J. B. H. 
Also found in the alps of Victoria, and abundantly in Antarctic America. 
4. C. acicularis, Hook.f., n. sp. A small, moss-like, densely csespitose, 
shining, rigid, glabrous plant, forming tufts 1-2 in. high. Leaves densely 
imbricated all round, £ in. long, like those of C. subulatus, but paler, more 
shining, much larger, and with much longer acicular points. Flowers almost 
sessile, shorter than the leaves. Sepals 5, like the leaves, longer than the 
capsule. 
Middle Island : dry rocky places, Wairau Gorge, alt. 4-5S00 ft, Travers ; Otago, Lake 
district, abundant, Hector and Buchanan. 
5. C. nmscoid.es. Hook. f. FI. Antarct. i. 14. A perfectly glabrous, 
moss-like, densely tufted, bright green plant, soft and rather flaccid in texture, 
forming large patches. Stems most densely matted. Leaves densely imbri- 
cated, patent, about £ in. long, linear, obtuse, rather dilated at the base, green, 
soft. Peduncles extremely short. Flowers minute, sunk amongst the leaves, 
4-merous. Sepals ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, concave, green. 
Lord Auckland’s group and Campbell’s Island : rocks near the sea, J. B. H. 
4. SPERGUIiAMA, Persoon. 
Spreading, dichotomously- branched, perennial herbs, with linear leaves, 
scarious stipules, and white or rose-coloured peduncled flowers. — Sepals 5, 
spreading. Petals 5, obtuse, or 0. Stamens 5 or 10, hypogynous. Ovary 
subglobose ; styles 3. Capsule 3-valved. Seeds compressed, often winged. 
A small British genus, of which species are scattered over many temperate and warm parts 
of the globe, especially near the sea, and in waste places. 
1. S. rubra, Pers., var. marina. — Arenaria media , Linn. ; FI. N. Z. 
i. 26. A rather succulent, excessively-branched, prostrate or suberect, annual 
