lobes, often glandular at the base. Column short, straight, erect Epigynous glands 2, semi-lunar. Ovary obovoid-turbinate, broad at the top, imperfectly 2-celled at the base. Capsule small, turbinate, flattened at the summit, coriaceous, indehiscent. Seeds numerous, obovoid.
The genus difiers from Forstera mainly in habit and in the turbinate capsule. In addition to the three species found in New Zealand there is another in Fuegia. The New Zealand forms are much too closely allied, and should probably be treated as varieties of P. clavigera. They were separated mainly on account of differences in the width of the leaves and length of the column, but these characters break down when a large series of specimens is under examination.
| Leaves linear, broad at the base. Column scarcely exserted | 1. P. clavigera. |
| Leaves shorter, broadly ovate at the base. Column much exserted | 2. P. Colensoi. |
| Leaves linear, not broad at the base. Column included or scarcely exserted | 3. P. rubra. |
1. P. clavigera, F. Muell. Fragm. viii 40.—Stems short, 1–2½ in. long, most densely compacted, leafy throughout. Leaves erect, imbricated in very many series, ⅙ in. long, linear-oblong with a dilated base, concave in front, convex at the back, very thick ana coriaceous, quite entire; tips obtuse, thickened and knobbed, a glandular pore on the back just below the apex. Flowers white, ⅛–⅙ in. diam. Calyx-lobes 5–6, linear-oblong, obtuse. Corolla-lobes 5–7, obovate, those of the male flowers without glands at the base or with very indistinct ones, the females or hermaphrodites with conspicuous linear glands. Column stout, erect, slightly exserted. Anthers narrow-reniform. Stigmas of the female flowers large, plumose-papillose; of the males or hermaphrodites smaller, smooth, almost hidden between the anthers. Capsule turbinate, ultimately opening by the falling-away of the top. Seeds 6–8.—Helophyllum clavigerum, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 167. Forstera clavigera. Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 38, t. 28. F. aretriastrifolia, Homb. & Jacq. Bot. Voy. Astrol. et. Zèl. t. 16c.
South Island: Various localities in the Alps of Canterbury and Otago, apparently not common; altitude 4000–6000 ft. Auckland and Campbell Islands: Abundant on the hills; 500–1250 ft. December–March.
For a full account of this singular plant reference should be made to the detailed description and excellent plate given in the "Flora Antarctica."
2. P. Colensoi, Berggren in Minnesk. Fisiog. Sallsk. Lund. (1877) 11.—Habit and appearance of P. clavigera, but leaves shorter and broader, often broadly ovate at the base. Flowers rather smaller; column much longer and more slender, far exserted beyond the corolla in the usual state.—Helophyllum Colensoi, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 168. H. muscoides, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvi. (1894) 318. Forstera clavigera, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 155 (not of Fl. Antarct.).
