bl. brockces Sel. 72:28. kad Donbth/ Nbrcedl, 
ve 5 ied greiee (Ct Ane Be Teens 809 ae 
49. V. ASS 5 B. Armstr. on Trans. N.Z. Inst. iv (1872) “91-7 —A’ 743, 
erect perfectly glabrous much-branched shrub 3-5 ft. high ; branches ee 
slender, fastigiate, leafy, purplish towards the tips. Leaves spreading, 
sessile or nearly so, $-2in. long, §-g1n. broad, linear-oblong or elliptic- 
lanceolate, subacute, keeled, coriaceous, dark-green and shining above, 
paler beneath, midrib obscure. Spikes crowded together at the tips of the 
branches, 5-10-flowered, forming a short terminal panicle; rhachis puberu- 
lous ; bracts ovate, acne coriaceous, as long as the calyx. Flowers sessile, 
white or pale-pink, +-4 in. diam. Calyx 3-partite with one of the segments 
broader and eae oe) or 2-lobed, more rarely 4-partite ; segments linear- 
oblong, obtuse. Corolla-tube slander. tubular, about twice as long as the 
calyx; limb either 3-lobed with the anticous lobe entirely suppressed, or 
4-lobed with the anticous lobe small and narrow-linear; the dorsal and 
lateral lobes oblong, obtuse. Capsule ovate-oblong, obtuse, glabrous, 4 
as long again as the calyx.—Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiii (1881) 355; Hook. f. 
Bot. Mag. (i894) t. 7360; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 523; Adamso 4 
nm Journ. Linn. Soc. xl (1912) 256. See WAY &I/IGES “10-0 (Ge.C/7 
Sours Isnanp: Canterbury — Rakaia Valley, J. B. Armstrong! EH. Stead. Also 
reported from Mount Peel and the Mount Cook district, but I have seen no specimens 
from thence. 
A very handsome and attractive species, quite common as a garden-plant, but 
very rare in the wild state. The few wild specimens that I have seen agree with Mr. 
Armstrong’s description in the total suppression of the anticous lobe of the corolla, but 
cultivated specimens are variable in this respect. Usually some of the flowers want the 
anticous lobe and others possess it; but it is easy to find plants in which it is either 
always absent or always present. Sir J. D. Hooker (Bot. Mag. (189+) t. 7360) states 
that in plants cultivated in England he has never seen flowers with the anticous lobe 
| aaa; ee although it is always smaller and narrower than the other three. 
= 
50. V. decumbens (J. B. Armstr. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiii (1881) 352.— 
_ A small decumbent much-branched shrub 1-3 ft. high; branches spreading, 
purplish-black, bifariously pubescent. Beatss john set or rather distant, 
spreading, shortly petiolate, 4-#imn. long, 4-4in. broad, oblong- obovate 
or elliptic-oblong or narrow oblong-ovate, subacute or obtuse, coriaceous 
when dry, almost fleshy when fresh, quite glabrous, fiat or slightly concave, | 
dark-green with bright-red margins. Racemes 2-4 near the tips of the 
branches, equalling the leaves or slightly Tonger than them, shortly 
peduneled, dense-flowered ; rhachis pubescent ; pedicels very short, sometimes 
almost wanting; bracts “small, much shorter than the calyx. Flowers 
white, in. diam. Calyx deeply 4-partite ; segments ovate, acute, margins 
minutely ciliolate. Corolla-tube twice as long as the calyx or rather longer ; 
limb 4-lobed; iobes broadly oblong, obtuse, the anterior one narrower. 
Capsule ovat te, acute, compressed, glabrous, twice as long as the calyx.— 
Cheesem. Man. NZ. Fl. (1906) 524. 
SouTH Istanp: Mountains of Nelson, Marlborough, and North Canterbury, not 
uncommon. 1500-4500 ft. December—February. 
: A very beautiful little plant, well marked off from all its allies by the polished 
purplish-black branchlets, almost flat green leaves with red margins, shortly pedicellate 
flowers, small bracts, long corolla-tube, and short limb. Mr. Armstrong’s description 
is Py no means good; but there is no eson as to the identity of the plant. 
. 51. iy Willeoxii Petrie in Trans. N. Z. Pies xlv (1913) 272.—An erect 
or spreading much-branched glabrous shrub 2-4 ft. high; branches rather 
stout, ringed with the scars of the fallen leaves, glabrous or the younger 
