at the apex, shortly petioled or almost sessile, membranous or fleshy or subcoriaceous, entire or sinuate-denticulate; margins flat or slightly recurved. Flowers few, from the axils of leaves remote from the ends of the branches, very small, 18–16 in. diam. Calyx-lobes ovate-lanceolate, almost equalling the petals. Stigma clavate. Capsules ¾–1½ in. long, glabrous or pubescent; peduncles much elongated, slender, 2–4 in. long. Seeds papillose.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 57; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 77; Haussk. Monog. Epilob. 302; Kirk, Students' Fl. 173.
Var. pedunculare, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 57.—Stems shorter. Leaves smaller, more closely set, entire or nearly so; petioles shorter. Capsules glabrous; peduncles more slender.—E. pedunculare, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 5.36. E. cæspitosum, Haussk. Monog. Epilob. 301, t. 20, f. 85.
Var. nerterioides, Hook. f. l.c.—Shorter and usually more densely matted. Leaves smaller, thick and coriaceous; margins recurved. Capsules glabrous.—E. nerterioides, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 541. E. pedunculare var. aprica, Haussk. Monog. Epilob. 303.
Var. minimum, Kirk, Students' Fl. 174.—Very small. Stems ½–1 in. long. Leaves close-set, 110 in. diam., coriaceous; margins revolute. Capsule short and stout, ¼–⅓ in. long, exceeding the peduncle.
Var. angustum, Cheesem.—Stems 2–4 in. long, sparingly branched. Leaves remote, often deflexed, oblong to linear-oblong, entire or nearly so, hardly coriaceous. Capsules rather stout, ½–¾ in. long, glabrous or with a few scattered hairs; peduncles long. Perhaps a distinct species.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands: Abundant throughout, ascending to 3000 ft. Var. nerterioides also extends to the Auckland Islands and Macquarie Island. Var. minimum: Bluff Hill and Puysegur Point, Kirk! Var. angustum: Cass River, near Lake Tekapo (Canterbury), T.F.C.
An excessively variable plant. The varieties described above are simply prevalent forms, and pass into one another by insensible gradations.
16. E. purpuratum, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 77.—Stems 1–4 in. long, branched, prostrate and rooting at the nodes, perfectly glabrous, purplish-black. Leaves all opposite, crowded, horizontally spreading, ¼–½ in. long, broadly oblong or orbicular-oblong, obtuse, shortly petioled, thick and coriaceous, entire or obscurely minutely toothed, purplish below; veins indistinct. Flowers not seen. Peduncles springing from the axils of the intermediate leaves, stout, 2 in. long. Capsules as long as or shorter than the peduncles, stout, purplish-black, perfectly glabrous. Seeds papillose.—Haussk. Monog. Epilob. 303; Barbey, Gen. Epilob. t. 18, f. 2; Kirk, Students' Fl. 174.
South Island: Alps of Otago, altitude 4000–6000 ft., Hector and Buchanan!
Distinguished from all the forms of E. nummularifolium by the larger size, stouter habit, and purplish-black colour. I have only seen three indifferent specimens.
17. E. macropus, Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 812.—Stems numerous, slender, branched from the base, 3–9 in. long, decumbent or creeping and rooting below, ascending at the tips, purplish, more or less
