it Arse cho. Gan Ss ' 4.37,) Ot iFue, 
Veronica. | SCROPHULARIACEAE. 831 
the leaves or nearly twice as long as them, 2-5-flowered; bracts 
foliaceous, and with the pedicels and calyces densely pubescent. Flowers 
lin, diam., white. Calyx 4-partite ; segments oblong or obovate-oblong, 
obtuse. Corolla-tube short ; limb broad, 4-lobed, lobes rounded. Stamens 
2, shorter than the corolla-lobes. Capsule equalling or slightly exceeding 
the calyx, broadly obcordate, pubescent.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 
197; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 216; J. B. Armstr. in Trans. N.Z, Inst. xii 
(1881) 349; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 545. V. vulcanica Col. an 
Trans, N.Z, Inst. xx (1888) 203. V. subrosulata Col. l.c. xxxi (1899) 278. 
NortH Isntanp: Central volcanic plateau, abundant on Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, 
and Ruapehu, chiefly on shingle-slopes, Bidwill, Tryon! H. Hill! Spencer! T. F. C., 
Cockayne ; Ruahine Mountains, H. Hill / 4000-6500 ft. 
This is a true shingle-plant, with long, often tortuous prostrate stems, putting up 
numerous short erect flowering branches, often densely compacted. The flowers are 
nearly always pure-white, but I have noticed plants bearing pale lavender-blue flowers. 
Its nearest ally is doubtless V. Hookeriana ; but it is much more depressed and much 
more branched, the leaves are spathulate and on longer petioles, the peduncles are 
much shorter, and the capsules are broader and obcordate. 
p 98. YW Birleyi N. E. Brown in Kew Bulletin (1911) 345.—Stems spar- 
ingly branched, decumbent at the base, erect or flexuose above, somewhat 
fleshy, forming patches 6—-8in. across; branches few, glabrous or nearly 
so below, more or less puberulous or pilose above. Leaves crowded, or 
the lower somewhat remote, sessile or nearly so, thick and fleshy, more 
or less tinged with red, +-4in. long, din. broad, cuneate-obovate or 
broadly obovate, shortly 3—7-lobed, the central lobe the broadest, both 
surfaces covered with short whitish hairs; midrib obscure. Flowers few, 
in the uppermost axils of the leaves; peduncles short, 2-bracteolate ; 
bracts linear-spathulate, obtuse. Calyx 4-partite ; lobes din. long, linear- 
oblong. Corolla large, white, 4-?in. diam.; lobes 5, subequal. Capsule 
$ in. long, and about the same width, broadly obcordate, quite glabrous.— 
Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. li (1919) 93. V. Grahami Petrie in Trans. 
N.Z. Inst. xlv (1913) 273. 
SoutH IsLtanp: Canterbury—Fissures on rocks near Copeland Pass, Mount Cook 
district, alt. 7000 ft., P. Graham! Otago—Rocks near the summit of Vount Bonp- 
land, Miss L. 8. Gibbs! H. Birley! Mount Tennyson, near Lake -Wakatipu, W. A. 
Thomson and J. Speden! 5000-7000 ft. January-March. 7- 7S 2 (Pye 
A distinct and interesting species. Mr. N. E. Brown remarks that it is allied to 
V. spathulata, but differs in its stouter branches and subsessile leaves, finer and entirely 
different pubescence, and in the shorter peduncles. 
Cc ‘ 
hE 199. V. plebeia R. Br. Prodr. (1810) 435.—Stems slender, leafy, pro- 
strate and rooting, much and diffusely branched, elongated, 1-3 ft. long, 
usually minutely pubescent. Leaves on rather long petioles ; blade 4-1 in. 
‘long, broadly ovate or deltoid, obtuse or subacute, cordate or truncate at 
the base, coarsely and irregularly acutely toothed, 3-nerved, glabrous or 
sparsely hairy. Racemes lateral, axillary, pedunculate, 2—5 in. long, slender, 
loosely 5-10-flowered ; pedicels spreading, }-}in. long; bracts linear- 
obovate. Flowers small, Jin. diam. Calyx 4-partite ; segments obovate- 
oblong, obtuse or subacute, enlarging in fruit. Corolla-tube very short ; 
hmb with 4 rounded lobes. Stamens shorter than the corolla-lobes. Capsule 
transversely oblong or orbicular, compressed, slightly emarginate, alto- 
gether included in the enlarged calyx.—Benth, Fl. Austral. iv (1869) 510 ; 
