Nertera. | RUBIACEAE. 879 
Wairarapa, Colenso/ near Marton, W. Townson! near Wellington, 7. Kirk! Kapiti 
Island, B. C. Aston. Sourn Istanp: Otago—Plentiful, Petrie/ Thomson! StTEwaRt 
Istanp: 7’. Kirk! November-—January. 
Very distinct from the three preceding species, and at once recognized by the 
long tubular corolla. The Australian N. wets F. Muell. should probably be united 
with it. The flowers are strongly proterogynous and possibly dimorphic as well. 
3. GALIUM Linn. 1/5 7 
Herbs with slender quadrangular stems. Leaves in whorls of 4 to 8, 
of which 2 are supposed to be true leaves and the remainder stipules, although 
all are precisely similar in size and shape. Flowers minute, in axillary or 
terminal cymes. Calyx-limb obsolete. Corolla rotate, 4-lobed, rarely 
3- or 5-lobed. Stamens 4; filaments short. Ovary 2-celled; styles 2, 
connate at the base; stigmas capitate; ovules solitary in each cell. Fruit 
didymous, small, dry, indehiscent. 
A large genus of over 220 species, found in all temperate regions. Both the New 
Zealand species are endemic. 
Leaves in whorls of 4, linear-lanceolate .. os ¥ -» IL. G. tenwicaule. 
Leaves in whorls of 4, oblong .. i Se 2 .» 2, G. umbrosum. 
1. G. tenuicaule A. Cunn. Precur. (1838) n. 468.— Stems slender, 
straggling, branched, 6 in. to 3 ft. long, glabrous or slightly scabrid on the 
angles. Leaves in rather distant whorls of 4, +? in. long, linear-lanceolate 
or oblong-lanceolate, awned or acuminate, narrowed to the base, scabrid 
on the margins and midrib beneath. Flowers minute, white, =, in. diam., 
in 1-4-flowered axillary cvmes; peduncles usually longer than the leaves, 
decurved in fruit. Fruit of 2 minute globose cocci, dark-brown, glabrous. 
—Raoul Choixz (1846) 46; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. 1 (1853) 113; Handb. N.Z. 
Fl. (1864) 120; TZ. Kirk Students’ Fl. (1899) 249; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. FI. 
(1906) 266. G. triloba Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xx (1888) 192. 
NortH anp SoutH Istanps: Damp places on the margins of woods and swamps ; 
not uncommon from Ahipara southwards, Sea-level to 2500 ft. December—March. 
wee 
2. G. umbrosum Sol. ex Jorst. Prodr. (1786) sf Stems 1-10 in. 
long, suberect or prostrate, much or sparingly branched, weak or rather 
stiff and wiry, glabrous or»more or less ciliate on the angles. Leaves in 
whorls of 4, ;4,-4 in. long, broadly oblong or elliptical oblong, acuminate or 
mucronate, marked with pellucid dots when held between the eye and the 
light, glabrous or the margins ciliated, petioles short. Flowers very minute, 
white ; peduncles axillary, longer than the leaves, usually 1-flowered, more 
rarely 2- or 3-flowered. Fruit of 2 minute globose rugulose cocci.—Hook. f. 
Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 113; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 121; T. Kirk Students’ 
Fl. (1899) 249; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 266. G. propinquum 
A. Cunn. Precur. (1838) n. 469. G. erythrocaulon Col. in Trans. N.Z. 
Inst. xvi (1884) 332. 
North AnD Sout Istanps, Stewart Istanp: From the North Cape southwards ; 
plentiful. Ascends to 3000 ft. December—March, 
The European G. Aparine L., a much larger and coarser species than either of the 
above, with weak straggling or subscandent scabrous stems 2-6 ft. long, and lanceolate 
leaves in whorls of 6-8, has become thoroughly established in many localities in botk 
Islands. 
