South Island: Nelson—Upper Wairau, Travers, Monro; Upper Clarence, Jollies' Pass, Jack's Pass, &c., T.F.C.; Waiau Valley, Kirk! Canterbury—Banks Peninsula, Raoul, Armstrong! Kowai River, Haast, Petrie! Broken River basin, Enys! Kirk! Cockayne! T.F.C. 500–3500 ft. October–November.
69. V. pulvinaris, Hook. f. and Benth. Gen. Plant. ii. 964.—A small densely tufted hoary moss-like plant, forming soft rounded cushions 1–3 in. diam.; branches closely compacted, ⅛ in. diam. Leaves very densely imbricate, 110 in. long, linear-oblong or linear–spathulate, obtuse or subacute, not coriaceous, quite entire, the margins and both surfaces above the middle hispid with copious long white hairs. Flowers terminal, solitary, very shortly pedicelled, about ⅛ in. long, white. Calyx deeply 5-partite; segments linear, ciliate. Corolla salver-shaped; tube narrow, slightly longer than the calyx; limb flat, spreading, 5-lobed. Stamens included; filaments very short. Ovary pilose at the tip. Capsule not seen.—Pygmea pulvinaris, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 217; Ic. Plant. t. 1047; Buch. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiv. (1882) 352, t. 32, f. 2.
South Island: Mountains of Nelson, Marlborougb, and Canterbury, abundant. 3500–6500 ft.
This and the two following species differ from Veronica in the 5- or 6-partite corolla and in the leaves not being quadrifariously arranged, and constituted the genus Pygmea of the Handbook. In the "Genera Plantarum" the genus was reduced to a section of Veronica, and this view has also been followed by Wettstein in "Die Naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien."
70. V. Thomsoni, Cheesem.—Very similar in most respects to V. pulvinaris, but rather larger and stouter. Leaves very densely imbricate, 110 in. long, rhomboid-obovate or obovate-oblong, obtuse or subacute, somewhat thick and fleshy towards the tip, membranous towards the base, quite entire, usually copiously hispid on the margins and back above the middle, upper surface often glabrous. Flowers solitary, terminal, rather larger than in V. pulvinaris. Calyx deeply 5-partite; segments linear, obtuse, ciliate. Corolla-tube much longer than the calyx; limb spreading, 5-lobed. Stamens included; filaments very short. Ovary pilose at the tip. Capsule narrowly obcordate, turgid, about as long as the calyx.—Pygmea Thomsoni, Buch. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiv. (1882) 353, 4. 32, f. 3.
Var. glabra.—Glabrous, or with a few scattered hairs on the margins of the leaves.
South Island: Otago—Mount Alta, Buchanan and McKay! Kurow Mountains, Mount St. Bathan's, Mount Pisa, Petrie! 4500–6500 ft.
Very near to V. pulvinaris, but the leaves are broader and the corolla larger, with a much longer tube. It is easily confounded with Myosotis pulvinaris.
71. V. ciliolata, Hook. f. and Benth. Gen. Plant. ii. 964.—A small densely tufted moss-like plant, forming rounded cushions
