buriensis as having membranous leaves and the racemes in pairs at the end of the branches, so that probably he had var. gracilis in mind when he described the species; but for many years he applied the name to the typical form in the Botanical Gardens at Christchurch.
34. V. obovata, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. ix. (1877) 502.—An erect sparingly branched glabrous shrub 4–5 ft. high; branches stout, erect, ringed with the scars of the fallen leaves. Leaves shortly petioled, erect or suberect, laxly imbricating, ¾–1 in. long, ¼–⅓ in. broad, narrow-obovate, obtuse, gradually narrowed into the short broad fiat petiole, slightly concave when fresh, thick and coriaceous, margins entire. Racemes 2 or 3 near the tips of the branches, 1–2 in. long, slender, erect, lax-flowered; rhachis puberulous; pedicels short; bracts small, ovate, acute. Flowers white, ⅕ in. diam. Calyx 4-partite; segments ovate-oblong, obtuse. Corolla-tube short and broad, hardly longer than the calyx; limb 4-Iobed; lobes spreading, oblong, obtuse. Ripe capsules not seen.
South Island: Canterbury—Broken River, Kirk! Mount Cook district, T. F. C. Otago—Upper Hawea, Petrie! Mount Earnslaw, Cockayne! 2000–4500 ft.
The above description is based on Kirk's type specimens from the Broken River. My own specimens from the Mount Cook district, and Petrie's and Cockayne's from Otago, have rather smaller and less obovate leaves and longer racemes, and may be referable to V. monticola, if, indeed, the two species should not be combined.
35. V. monticola, Armstr. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiii. (1881) 354.—A much-branched glabrous shrub 2–5 ft. high; branches erect or spreading, densely leafy above, ringed with the scars of the fallen leaves below; bark brown. Leaves close-set, more or less imbricate, suberect or spreading, ⅔–1 in. long, ⅓–½ in. broad, obovate-oblong or elliptic-oblong, obtuse or subacute, narrowed into a very short thick petiole, thick and coriaceous, slightly concave above, somewhat rounded but not keeled beneath; midrib impressed beneath when dry. Racemes near the tips of the branches, longer than the leaves, 1–1½ in. long, dense-flowered; rhachis puberulous; pedicels very short, stout; bracts ovate-lanceolate, subacute. Flowers white, ¼ in. diam. Calyx deeply 4-partite; segments oblong-ovate, obtuse or subacute. Corolla-tube short and broad, barely longer than the calyx; limb 4-lobed; lobes ovate, spreading. Capsule ovate-oblong, acute, about twice as long as the calyx.
South Island: Mountain districts from Nelson to Otago, not uncommon. 2000–4500 ft. December–February.
This is the plant to which the name of lævis is usually applied in the South Island, but I believe erroneously, the true lævis having smaller and more rigid keeled leaves and a corymbose inflorescence. It agrees with an authentic specimen of V. monticola in Kirk's herbarium, but differs in several
