Probably only a small state of V. dasyphylla, but I retain it until further specimens can be examined. Buchanan's drawing of it is by no means good, the branches not being nearly so acutely tetragonous as shown by him. I have only seen one indifferent specimen.
63. V. macrantha, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 213.—A short stout sparingly branched erect shrub 1–2 ft. high; branches erect or spreading, rigid, terete or obscurely tetragonous, glabrous or faintly puberulous above. Leaves ½–1 in. long, obovate-lanceolate to obovate or broadly oblong-ovate, obtuse or acute, narrowed into a short stout petiole, obtusely serrate, very thick and coriaceous, smooth, flat, glossy, margins thickened. Eacemes few or many, axillary, 3–8-flowered; peduncle slender, usually longer than the leaves; bracts narrow-lanceolate. Flowers large, ¾ in. diam., pure white; pedicels shorter than the calyx. Calyx deeply 4-partite; segments lanceolate, acuminate, coriaceous, ¼–⅓ in. long. Corolla-tube short; lobes 4, broad, rounded. Capsule broadly ovoid, acute, equalling or slightlv exceeding the calyx-segments.—Armstr. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiii. (1881) 350.
South Island: Alpine grassy slopes from Mount Arthur (Nelson) to Lake Te Anau (Otago), chiefly in the central chain of mountains. 2500–5000 ft. December–February.
One of the most distinct species of the genus, easily recognised by the sparingly branched rigid habit, very coriaceous toothed leaves, and large pure-white flowers. Specimens from Mount Arthur and other parts of the Nelson District have shorter broader leaves, more numerous racemes, and smaller flowers than is usual in Canterbury and Otago, and may be distinguished as var. brachyphylla.
64. V. Benthami, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 60, t. 39, 40.—An erect branching shrub 2–4 ft. high; branches stout, ringed with the scars of the fallen leaves, naked below, leafy above, younger ones bifariously pubescent. Leaves crowded towards the ends of the branches, sessile, opposite pairs connate at the very base, ½–1½ in. long, linear-oblong to obovate-oblong, obtuse, narrowed to the base, flat, coriaceous, veinless, entire or with a few coarse serratures above the middle, margins with a line of white down. Racemes terminating the branches, elongated, 1½–3 in. long, many-flowered, clothed with numerous leafy imbricating bracts ¼–½ in. long. Flowers pedicelled, not exceeding the bracts, ⅓–½ in. diam., bright-blue. Calyx deeply 5-partite; segments unequal, oblong-spathulate, margined with white down. Corolla-tube shorter than the calyx; limb 5-lobed, more rarely 3–6-lobed; lobes obovate, obtuse. Stamens 2, rarely 3, short, included. Capsule broadly ovoid, acute, about as long as the calyx.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 214; Armstr. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiii. (1881) 350. V. finaustrina, Homb. and Jacq. Voy. au Pole Sud, Dicot. t. 9, fig. y.
Auckland and Campbell Islands: Rocky places, abundant, Sir J. D, Hooker, Kirk! Chapman! H. J. Matthews! December–February.
