lobes subequal, oblong, obtuse. Capsule elliptic-ovate, acute, compressed, twice as long as tbe calyx.—Bot. Mag. t. 6390, and t. 7296, f. 5; Masters in Gard. Chron. 1873, p. 1046; Armstr. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiii. (1881) 351.
Var. fallax, Cheesem.—Not so closely branched, often reddish-brown when fresh. Leaves more laxly placed, sessile, linear-oblong or oblong-lanceolate, acute or obtuse, flat or nearly so. Racemes lax-flowered; pedicels very short. Corolla-tube short, only slightly exceeding the calyx.
Var. elegans, Cheesem.—Branches slender. Leaves more laxly placed spreading, narrow linear-oblong, flat. Racemes oblong, obtuse; pedicels long, slender. Calyx small. Corolla-tube long, narrow, two or three times the length of the calyx.
South Island: Abundant in mountain districts from Nelson to Otago. 500–3500 ft. December–February.
There is much confusion as to the limits of this species. The description given in the Handbook evidently includes more species than one; but without an examination of the material which Hooker had before him it is not easy to decide which should be taken as the type. 1 have selected the plant figured in the Botanical Magazine (t. 6390), which is also identical with that described by Dr. Masters in the Gardeners' Chronicle. It appears to have been included in the original description, has a wide distribution in the South Island, and is the form usually cultivated under the name of V. Traversii; but I am unable to say whether it was actually collected by Travers. On the other hand, Mr. N. E. Brown, who has lately examined the whole of the New Zealand Veronicæ in the Kew Herbarium, is of opinion that my var. elegans should be regarded as the type. It was collected by both Travers and Haast, but seems to be a local plant, all the specimens I have seen having come from the Canterbury Provincial District. It differs conspicuously from the Botanical Magazine plant in the long and slender corolla-tube, in that and other respects approaching V. leiophylla. Probably the two plants are distinct, but I hesitate to describe them as such until more conclusive evidence has been obtained.
32. V. subalpina, Cockayne in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxi. (1899) 420.—A much-branched erect shrub 3–6 ft. high; branches suberect or spreading, terete, glabrous or the younger ones minutely puberulous, leafy above, below ringed with the sears of the fallen leaves. Leaves spreading, sessile, ¾–1½ in. long, ⅕–⅓ in. broad, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, broadest below the middle, acute or subacute, subcoriaeeous, pale glistening green, slightly concave above when fresh, flat when dry, margins entire. Racemes 2–4 near the tips of tbe branches, equalling the leaves or longer than them, 1–2 in. long, simple, dense- or lax-flowered; rhachis slender, puberulous; lower pedicels slender, usually exceeding the calyx; bracts small. Calyx deeply 4-partite; segments ovate-lanceolate or ovate-oblong, acute, margins ciliolate. Corolla-tube short and broad, hardly exceeding the calyx; limb longer than the tube, 4-lobed; lobes oblong, obtuse. Capsule ¼ in. long, ovate, acute, compressed, about twice as long as the calyx.
