744 CONVOLVULACEAE. ' [Dichondra. 
Nortn anp Sours Isuanps, Caatuam Istanps: Abundant from the North Cape 
to Otago. Sea-level to 2500 it. Spring and early summer. 
A widely spread plant in the tropical and subtropical districts of both hemispheres, 
extending northwards to the United States on one side and China on the other. 
2. D. brevifolia Buch. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. m1 (1871) 208, — 
Much smaller and more densely matted than D. repens, often forming 
a compact turf. Leaves on short stout petioles; blade §-{in. diam., 
orbicular-oblong or reniform, emarginate or rounded at the apex, cordate 
at the base, rather thick, silky on both surfaces or almost glabrous. 
Peduncles stout, erect, usually longer than the leaves. Flowers larger 
than in D. repens, tin. diam., yellowish. Sepals obovate, silky. Corolla 
much longer than the sepals, sometimes twice as long. Ripe capsules 
about equalling the calyx.—D. repens var. brevifoha 7. Kirk in Trans. 
N.Z. Inst. x (1878) app. xxxvii; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 479. 
North AND Sours Isianps, Stewart IstaAnp: Not uncommon throughout, 1 
ascending to 3000 ft. November—January. 
I retain this as a species with considerable hesitation, but it appears to constantly 
differ from reduced states of D. repens, which it otherwise much resembles, in the 
larger flowers with the corolla always much longer than the calyx. 
5. CUSCUTA Linn. 
Leafless usually annual herbs, germinating in the soil but not rooting 
in it, producing filiform branched stems which twine round herbs or 
shrubs and become parasitic by means of suckers which penetrate the 
bark, the lower portion of the stem then dying away. Flowers small, 
usually whitish, in dense or open cymose fascicles, sessile or shortly 
pedicelled. Sepals 5 or 4, distinct or connate at the base. Corolla 
campanulate or urceolate or ovoid; lobes 5-4, short, imbricate in the 
bud. Stamens 5-4, inserted on the throat of the corolla, above a ring 
-of many scale-like lacerate appendages. Ovary globose, 2-celled, 4-ovuled ; 
styles 1 or 2, persistent; stigmas capitate or filiform. Capsule 1—-4-seeded, 
membranous, dry or succulent, circumscissile or bursting irregularly. Seeds 
glabrous, albuminous ; embryo long and slender, spirally coiled ; cotyledons 
wanting or obscure. | 
A very remarkable genus, comprising about 90 species, spread through most tropi- 
cal and temperate countries. Some of them, such as the clover dodder, C. epithymum 
var. trifolii, are dangerous pests to cultivated crops. The single New Zealand species 
is very imperfectly known, and may not be truly indigenous. 
1. C. densiflora Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 186. — Stems 
slender, densely matted and twisting together, as thick as stout thread. 
Flowers crowded in short densely congested 6—-10-flowered racemes 4-1in. 
long. Calyx shortly 5-lobed ; lobes oblong, obtuse. Corolla }in. long, 
subeampanulate, marked with transparent oil-glands; lobes 5, short, 
rounded, recurved. Scales broadly oblong, obtuse, fimbriated, united at 
their bases by a thin membrane. Filaments longer than the anthers. 
Styles 2, rather long; stigmas capitate.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 199. 
SouTH Isnanp : Mariborough—Port Underwood, Lyall. 
I have seen no specimens of this, and the above diagnosis has been drawn up from 
those given by Hooker in the Flora and the Handbook. According to Hooker, Dr. 
Engelmann, who examined the type at Kew, reported that it hardly differs from the 
C. dewsifina ~ see Tagdernnm Tian. Acad Sci H-heww 
{. Sob: (SST 
Cite. te (2 jyiqae 149 
