Var. a.—Decumbent. Leaves stipulate. Capsules ½–1 in. long, downy.
Var. b, stricta, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 42.—Erect or suberect. Stipules wanting. Flowers small. Capsules large.—O. stricta, Linn. Sp. Plant. 435. O. Urvillei, propinqua, divergens, lacicola, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 584, 586, 588, 590.
Var. c, microphylla, Hook. f. l.c.—Stems procumbent, slender, rooting. Leaflets usually minute. Capsule oblong.—O. exilis, A. Cunn. l.c. n. 587.
Var. d, ciliifera, Hook. f. l.c.—Stems procumbent, filiform, matted. Leaflets membranous, ciliated.—O. tenuicaulis and O. ciliifera, A. Cunn. l.c. n. 589, 591.
Var. e, crassifolia, Hook. f. l.c.—Stems rigid, matted. Leaflets small, thick, pilose.—O. crassifolia, A. Cunn. l.c. n. 592.
Kermadec Islands, North and South Islands: Abundant throughout, chiefly in lowland situations.
One of the most widely diffused and variable plants known, found in almost all temperate and tropical countries.
2. O. magellanica, Forst. in Comm. Gotting. ix. (1789) 33.—A small glabrous or pubescent almost stainless herb 2–4 in. high; rootstock creeping, scaly. Leaves all radical, on long slender hairy petioles, trifoliolate; leaflets obcordate, glabrous, glaucous beneath. Peduncles radical, long and slender, often exceeding the leaves, 2-bracteolate above the middle, 1-flowered. Flowers rather large, pure white, ⅓–½ in. diam. Sepals small, ovate, obtuse. Petals obovate or obcordate, often oblique. Capsule globose.—Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. ii. 253; Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 42, t. 13; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 38; Benth. Fl. Austral. i. 300; Kirk, Students' Fl. 84. O. cataractæ, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 585; Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 418; Raoul, Choix, 47.
North and South Islands: From Mongonui and Kaitaia southwards, in damp and shaded or subalpine localities. Sea-level to fully 4000 ft. Also in Australia, Tasmania, Chili, and Fuegia, and closely allied to the common O. acetosella of the Northern Hemisphere.
Order XIV. RUTACEÆ.
Trees or shrubs, very rarely herbs, plentifully supplied with pellucid glands tilled with an aromatic or pungent essential oil. Leaves opposite or alternate, simple or compound, exstipulate. Flowers regular, hermaphrodite or rarely unisexual. Calyx 4–5-lobed or divided into as many free sepals, imbricate. Petals the same number, hypogynous or slightly perigynous, imbricate or valvate. Stamens usually free, hypogynous, as many or twice as many as the petals, rarely more numerous; anthers 2-celled, versatile. Disc placed between the stamens and ovary, usually annular, entire or lobed or crenate. Ovary of 4–5 free or connate carpels; styles as many, free at the base, united above; ovules usually 2 in each carpel. Fruit very various, sometimes of 4–5 2-valved cocci, or a berry or drupe, rarely a capsule with loculicidal dehiscence. Seeds generally solitary in each cell; albumen fleshy or wanting; embryo large, straight or curved, radicle superior.
