Var. brevifolia, Cheesem.—Leaves smaller and narrower, 1–2½ in. long by ½–¾ in. broad, oblong-obovate to linear-oblong, obtuse or subacute. Racemes and flowers smaller.
North Island: North Cape (var. brevifolia), T.F.C.; south head of Hokianga Harbour, R. Cunningham, Kirk! Maunganui Bluff, Petrie! Urenui (Taranaki), T.F.C.; Port Nicholson, Lyall. South Island: Marlborough—Ship Cove, Lyall; Pelorus Sound, J. Rutland! November–March.
A remarkably rare and local species, confined to cliffs near the sea. All the wild specimens that I have seen have the flowers dark reddish-purple, but in cultivation they frequently become violet-purple. It hybridises freely with V. salicifolia, macrocarpa, elliptica, and probably other species, and several of the hybrids have become common garden-plants.
2. V. Dieffenbachii, Benth. in D.C. Prodr. x. 459.—A robust much-branched shrub; branches widely divaricating, 2–5 ft. long or more; branchlets stout, green, terete, ⅙–¼ in. diam., glabrous or puberulous. Leaves spreading, often recurved, sessile and semiamplexicaul, 2–4 in. long, ½–1 in. broad, linear-oblong, rarely broader and almost oblong, acute or subacute, coriaceous or almost fleshy, pale-green, midrib stout, prominent beneath, lateral veins very indistinct, margins slightly recurved when fresh. Racemes pedunculate, suberect, exceeding the leaves, 2½–5 in. long, ¾–1 in. diam., dense-flowered; rhachis stout; pedicels spreading, 110–18 in. long, with a minute subulate bract at the base. Flowers ¼ in. diam., usually lilac-purple. Calyx small, 4-partite; segments ovate-oblong or ovate-lanceolate, acute, ciliolate. Corolla-tube funnel-shaped, exceeding the calyx; limb 4-lobed; dorsal and lateral lobes broadly oblong, anterior narrower. Capsule ⅕–¼ in. long, ovate, acute, glabrous, about 2½ times as long as the calyx.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 191; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 206; Bot. Mag. t. 7656; Armstr. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiii. (1881) 351; Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxviii. (1896) 531; Gard. Chron. ii. (1898) p. 154, t. 41. V. Forsteri, F. Muell. Veg. Chat. Is. 46 (in part).
Chatham Islands: Apparently not uncommon, Dieffenbach, H. H. Travers Enys! Cox and Cockayne!
In cultivation this puts out numerous stout almost horizontal branches close to the ground, so that a single plant occupies quite a large space without rising to a greater height than 3 ft. or 4 ft.; but Mr. Cockayne informs me that this peculiarity is not so noticeable in the wild state. I am also indebted to him for a series of specimens showing a considerable range of variation in the size and shape of the leaves and their texture, the length of the raceme, size of the flowers, &c., apparently accompanied by slight differences in the mode of growth. It seems doubtful whether the whole of these are referable to V. Dieffenbachii, but the question is one that cannot be settled without much more ample material than I possess.
3. V. Barkeri, Cockayne in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxi. (1899) 421.—A stout branching shrub; branches erect, not divaricating, terete, the younger ones brownish-purple. Leaves spreading, sessile, 2 in.
