Veronica.'] 
LIU. SCROPHUJbARINEiE. 
215 
greenish when dry. Peduncles slender, axillary, longer or shorter than 
the leaves, 3-5 -flowered ; bracts leaf-like; pedicels often very long, 1-1 in. 
long, curved. Sepals in. long, linear-oblong, obtuse. Corolla f in. broad ; 
tube very short. Stamens short. Capsule broadly obcordate, shorter than 
the calyx. 
Middle Island : Southern Alps, alt. 2500-4000 ft., Trinity Hill, Forest Creek, Ash- 
burton and Great Clyde glaciers, clefts of rocks on Mount Darwin, etc., Sinclair and 
Haast. 
34. V. nivalis. Hook. f. FI. N. Z. i. 196. Stems long, rather stout, 
prostrate, sparingly branched, flexuose, puberulous, 6-10 in. long. Leaves 
on short petioles, in. long, ovate or broadly oblong-ovate, obtuse, deeply 
obtusely serrate, very coriaceous, black when dry. Peduncles 1-2 in. long, 
axillary, glandular-pubescent, 6-8-flowered ; bracts minute ; pedicels §■ 
in. Sepals -§• in. long, oblong, obtuse, glandular. Corolla i in. broad, white 
with pink veins ; lower lobe 2-fid ; tube very short. Stamens short. Cap- 
sule transversely oblong, shorter than the calyx. — Hook. Ic. PI. t. 640 ; V. 
Hooker iana, Walp. Pep. 
Northern Island: Tongariro, Bidwill ; summit of the Ruahine range, Colenso. 
35. V. Lyallii, Hook. f. FI. N. Z. i. 196. Stems slender, prostrate 
and rooting, diffusely branched, 5-15 in. long, glabrous or sparingly puberu- 
lous. Leaves short-petioled, £— §■ in. long, ovate oblong-ovate or ovate-lan- 
ceolate, obtuse or acute, glabrous, with a few coarse serratures, coriaceous, 
black when dry. Peduncles axillary, slender, 3-8 in. long, glabrous, many- 
flowered ; pedicels slender, lower in. long ; bracts very variable, oblong linear 
or spathulate. Sepals as variable, glabrous. Corolla nearly \ in. diam. ; tube 
very short. Stamens very short. Capsule transversely oblong, didymous, as 
long as or longer than the sepals. 
Northern Island: rocky cliffs near Patea (leaves larger, acute, passing into V.calaracice,fi) 
and summit of Ruahine range (plants very small), Colenso. Middle Island : abundant in 
many places ; Otago, Hector, etc. ; Milford Sound, Hijall ; rocky rivulets, Ashburton 
river and Rangitata range, 2-4000 ft., Haast. This seems to me to be a plant which, as- 
suming widely different forms, passes into V. nivalis , by the raceme becoming few-flowered 
and glandular; into V. Bidmllii by the leaves becoming much smaller, etc. ; into V.cataractce 
by the leaves becoming larger and longer ; and into var. diffusa of V. cataractce by the 
leaves becoming larger and broader. Most of these forms, however, appear to keep their 
characters over large areas, where several of them occur together, and the extreme states are 
very widely dissimilar. 
36. V. Bidwillii, Hook. Ic. PI. t. 814 FI. N. Z. i. 196. Stems 
prostrate, slender, creeping at the base, 3-6 in. long, glabrous or puberulous. 
Leaves minute, subsessile, in. long, broadly ovate oblong or oblong- 
ovate, obtuse, with 1 or 2 deep notches on each side, coriaceous, black when dry. 
Peduncles axillary, usually very long and slender, 2-10 in. long, few- or many- 
flowered, glabrous. Flowers racemed or sometimes in interrupted whorls ; 
pedicels slender, lower £ in. long; bracts and sepals very small, -fV— g- in., ob- 
long, obtuse, puberulous. Corolla 1 in. diam. or more, violet white or pink ; 
tube very short. Stamens small. Capsule didymous, ^ in. broad, longer 
than the calyx. 
Middle Island : bed of the Wairau, alt. 2-3000 ft., Bidwill, Travers ; Rotnite Lake, 
Muuro ; Southern Alps,abuudaut above 1500 ft., Sinclair and Haast ; Otago, lake district and 
