776 SCROPHULARIACEAE. [ Limosella, 
2. L. Curdieana F. Muell. Fragm. Phyt. Austral. 1x (1875) 166.— 
A perennial herb with tufts of radical leaves, emitting short thick stolons 
terminating in other tufts, glabrous in all its parts. Leaves numerous : 
petiole 2-4in, lone or more, filiform, terete, dilated towards the base ; 
blade }-#in. long, ovate of ovate-oblong, obtuse, suddenly contracted into 
the petiole, rather thin; main veins 3-5, parallel, with reticulating veimlets 
between. Flowers crowded at the bases of the petioles, sessile, minute. 
Calyx +5 in. lone or less, tipped with 5 minute teeth. Corolla altogether 
ineluded in . - 
tube. Sty 
sistent caly 
numerous ; 
See. Gle 
SOUTH .- 
in Australia. 
A very 
included cor 
Mr. Petrie’s, 
Herbs 
eauline al: 
spreading 
in bractea 
or corym 
Calyx ust 
shorter tl 
A-lobed, s 
equal, im 
Stamens 
corolla-tu 
small, 2-c 
2-celled, compressed or turgid, grooved on eaun muy vince Ce 
dehiscent with the placentas separating, or loculicidal with the valves 
remaining attached to the undivided placental column or separating from 
it. Seeds few or many, ovate or orbicular, compressed, attached by the 
inner flat surface. 
A genus of nearly 275 species, most abundant in New Zealand and in the temperate 
regions of the Northern Hemisphere, rare and almost absent in the tropics. In New 
Zealand it is by far the largest genus of flowering-plants, and in montane or subalpine 
districts forms a conspicuous portion of the vegetation. Many of the species are 
singularly beautiful in form, foliage, and flower; and from that reason, and from the 
ease with which they can be cultivated, a considerable number have become well 
established in gardens throughout the Dominion and in Europe. Of the 103 species 
admitted in this book, all but 3 are endemic. These are V. elliptica, which is 
found in the Falkland Islands, Fuegia, and South Chile; V. plebeia, which is not 
uncommon in east Australia; and V. Anagallis, which has a wide distribution in the 
North Temperate Zone. But the last is probably an introduction, The distribution 
of the species within the Dominion is peculiar. Twenty-one are confined to the North 
Island, and no less than 61 to the South Island, while only 12 species are found in 
both Islands. Five are endemic in the Chatham Islands, 2 in the Auckland and 
Campbell Islands, and | in the Kermadec Islands. Of the 103 species, 59 are purely 
