498 CARYOPHYLLACEAE, | Hectorella. 
1. H. eaespitosa Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Hl. (1864) 27.—Stems short, 
stout, densely tufted, with the leaves on almost as thick as the little 
finger, forming compact rounded cushions 2-8 in. diam. and 1-3 in. high. 
Leaves very numerous, closely imbricated in many series, §-31n. long, 
broadly triangular-ovate to linear-oblong with a broad base, thin and 
membranous below the middle, coriaceous and keeled above; margins 
and tip thickened ; veins reticulated. Flowers small, white, very shortly 
peduncled, forming a ring round the top of the branches among the upper- 
most leaves, often unisexual, the staminate ones being the smallest. Sepals 
concave, keeled. Petals much longer than the sepals. Capsule globose, 
membranous, as long as the sepals. Seeds 2-4, broadly ovoid, smooth and 
shining.—Hook. f. in Ic. Plant. (1867-71) t. 1046; T. Kirk Students’ Fl. 
(1899) 65; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 72. H. elongata Buch. in Trans. 
N.Z. inst. xvi (1884) 395, t. 35. 
Soutua Istanp: Canterbury—Mountains above Arthur’s Pass, 7. #. C.; Upper 
Waimakariri, Cockayne ; Mount Arrowsmith, Cockayne and R. M. Laing ; Mount Cook 
district, 7. G. Gibbs, 7. F.C. Westland—Haast Pass and Makaroro, Poppelwell. Otago— 
Mount Alta and Mount Aspiring, Hector and Buchanan! Hector Mountains, Dunstan 
Mountains, and all high mountains west of the Ciutha River, Petrie ; Eyre Mountains, 
Poppelweil ; Garvie Mountains, Crosby Smith. Altitudinal range from 4000 to 7000 it. 
A very curious and interesting little plant, which was placed by Hooker in the: 
Portulacaceae, although he admitted that it is not allied to any genus in the family. 
A few years.ago its systematic position was investigated by Dr. J. Ewart, of Melbourne,, 
who pointed out that it was undoubtedly related to the genus Lyallia, of Kerguelen 
Island. He therefore suggested that it should be removed from Portulacaceae and. 
rlaced in the Caryophyllaceae, in the vicinity of Lyallia and Pycnophyllum. I am 
following his suggestion in this work. 
TWeekversae HHP ep aANTAUS Linn. 
Small rigid usually densely tufted annual or perennial herbs. Leaves 
opposite, connate at the base, subulate, often serrulate ; stipules wanting. 
Flowers small, green, axillary, solitary or 2 together, or in little cymes or 
fascicles. Perianth funnel-shaped or urceolate or turbinate, 4—5-toothed or 
-lobed. Stamens 1, 2, 5, or 10, inserted on the throat of the perianth ; 
filaments subulate; anthers didymous. Ovary ovoid; styles 2, distinct ; 
stigmas capitellate. Fruit a membranous utricle enclosed in the persistent 
and hardened perianth. Seed lenticular; testa smooth; embryo annular. 
Species about 12, scattered through Europe, temperate and subtropical Asie, 
Africa, and Australasia. The single New Zealand species is also found in Australia. 
The systematic position of Scleranthus has long been a matter for discussion. Bentham 
and Hooker placed 1t in the Illecebraceae, but long ago F. Mueller suggested its removal 
to the Caryophyllaceae, to which it is certainly very closely allied. This view has been 
accepted by Pax, who in the “ Pflanzenfamilien”’ has transferred the whole family 
Illecebraceae to Caryophyllaceae. 
rae 
i aah pines en f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 74.— A small densely 
branched glabrous or minutely pubescent perennial herb, usually forming 
compact cushions 1-4 in. diam. or more, rarely laxly branched with the 
stems creeping and elongating to 6in. Leaves crowded and imbricating, 
rarely remote, j4,-;41in. long, narrow-linear, acute, concave, minutely 
serrulate, coriaceous. Peduncles axillary, solitary, very short in the flowering 
stage, but lengthening in fruit and overtopping the leaves. Flowers minute, 
in pairs or more rarely solitary at the top of the peduncle, sessile within. 
