Flowers axillary and solitary, or racemose or subumbelled on a scapiform peduncle. Calyx 5-lobed or 5-partite. Corolla more or less oblique or curved; tube long or short; lobes 5, spreading, imbricate in the bud, one of the lateral ones on the outside. Stamens 4, didynamous, included; filaments short; anthers reniform, the cells diverging at the base, confluent at the tip. Ovary 2-celled; style filiform; stigma capitate; ovules numerous in each cell. Capsule 2-celled, turgid or sub-compressed, grooved on each side, loculicidally 2-valved, the placentas attached to the middle of the valves. Seeds numerous; testa loose, reticulate.
A handsome genus of about 20 species, confined to Andine South America, New Zealand, and Tasmania. All the New Zealand species are endemic.
| A. Erect or decumbent at the very base. Leaves all radical. (Stems often creeping in O. sessilifolia). | |
| Stout, glabrous or nearly so, 9–24 in. high. Leaves coriaceous, long-petioled. Upper bracts whorled. Flowers ¾–1 in. diam. | 1. O. macrocarpa. |
| More slender, pubescent or pilose, 6–24 in. high. Leaves submembranous, long-petioled. Upper bracts whorled. Flowers ½–¾ in. diam. | 2. O. macrophylla. |
| Small, slender, pubescent, 2–9 in. high. Leaves submembranous, long-petioled. Upper bracts in pairs, rarely in threes. Flowers ½–⅔ in. diam. | 3. O. Colensoi. |
| Stout, most densely glandular-hairy, 2–6 in. high. Leaves obovate, narrowed into short broad petioles. Bracts in pairs. Flowers ¾ in. diam. | 4. O. sessilifolia. |
| B. Creeping, often matted or ccsspitose. Leaves close-set along the creeping stem, usually distichous. | |
| Glabrous or nearly so. Leaves ¾–1¼ in., ovate-spathulate, thickly coriaceous, crenate. Flowers ¾–1 in. diam. | 5. O. Cockayniana. |
| Glabrous or nearly so. Leaves ⅛–⅓ in., obovate-spathulate, thickly coriaceous, entire or with 2-3 deep notches | 6. O. cæspitosa. |
| Leaves ⅓–⅔ in., upper surface densely glandular-pubescent. Peduncles and bracts sparingly pubescent | 7. O. prorepens. |
| Leaves ¼–¾ in., margins ciliate with long jointed hairs. Peduncles and bracts thickly glandular-pubescent | 8. O. glandulosa. |
1. O. macrocarpa, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 198.—Stems stout, erect from a short thick creeping rhizome, 9–24 in. high, purplish below, glabrous or with faint hairy lines recurrent from the bases of the bracts. Radical leaves numerous, on stout petioles 2–6 in. long; blade 1–5 in., ovate-oblong to broadly oblong or orbicular, obtuse or subacute, cuneate at the base or narrowed into the petiole, crenate, dark-green above, paler beneath, very thick and coriaceous, quite glabrous except the margins towards the base, which are ciliate. Flowering-stem very stout. Cauline leaves 1 or 2 pairs, ovate or oblong, almost connate at the base, sessile. Inflorescence of 4–8 superposed whorls of pedicelled flowers. Bracts 3–6 in a whorl, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, coriaceous,
