axillary and solitary; peduncles stout, usually shorter than the leaves. Calyx broadly funnel-shaped or almost obconic, truncate at the mouth, minutely toothed. Corolla variable in size, ¼–½ in. diam., white with a yellow throat; tube dilated upwards, much longer than the calyx; lobes broad, rounded. Capsule broadly oblong, obtuse, enclosed in the calyx, about ¼ in. long.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 188; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 202; Bot. Mag. t. 5423; Benth. Fl. Austral. iv. 482. M. Colensoi, Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. iii. (1871) 179.
North and South Islands: Salt marshes from the North Cape to the south of Otago, not common. November–January.
Mr. Kirk's M. Colensoi is a form with erect sparingly divided branches, but it does not otherwise differ from the type. The species is common in many parts of Australia and Tasmania.
3. MAZUS, Lour.
Small herbs, often prostrate and creeping. Lower leaves opposite or rosulate, upper ones when present often alternate. Flowers in terminal subsecuud racemes or solitary. Calyx campanulate, 5-partite, not angled. Corolla-tube short; upper lip erect, 2-fid; lower larger, spreading, 3-fid; throat with 2 protuberances. Stamens 4, didynamous; anther-cells divergent, often confluent at the tip. Style slender; stigma 2-lamellate. Capsule loculicidally dehiscent, valves entire. Seeds numerous, very minute, ovoid.
A small genus of 6 or 7 species, extending northwards through Australia to the Malay Archipelago, India, and China. One of the New Zealand species is found in Australia and Tasmania, and is very closely allied to the Indian M. rugosus; the other is endemic.
| Slender. Leaves ¾–3 in., linear-obovate or obovate-spathulate, membranous. Flowers small, about Jin. long | 1. M. pumilio. |
| Stout. Leaves ½–2 in., obovate or oblong. Flowers large, ¾ in. long | 2. M. radicans. |
1. M. pumilio, R. Br. Prodr. 439.—A small perennial herb with a creeping underground stem, putting up short leafy branches. Leaves close together, forming an erect tuft, variable in size, ¾–3 in. long including the petiole, obovate-spathulate, obtuse, gradually narrowed into the petiole, membranous, entire or irregularly sinuate-toothed, glabrous or sparingly pilose. Peduncles slender, usually exceeding the leaves, 1–6-flowered; pedicels long, each with a linear-setaceous bract. Calyx narrow-campanulate; lobes narrow, acute. Corolla ¼–½ in. long, white or blueish-white with a yellow centre; tube exceeding the calyx; lobes broad, rounded. Capsule included in the persistent calyx.—Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 567; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 189; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 202; Benth. Fl. Austral. iv. 484.
