threes, linear-oblong, crenate. Flowers ½ in. diam., white; pedicels ¼–1 in. long. Calyx 5-partite; segments linear, glandularpubescent. Corolla-tube short, curved; lobes obovate, retuse. Capsule broadly oblong, turgid.
North and South Islands: Mountainous districts from Lake Taupo and the Ruahine Mountains southwards. 1500–3500 ft. December–January.
Probably only a reduced state of O. macrophylla.
4. O. sessilifolia, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 218.—Rhizome stout or slender, creeping and rooting, branched, glandular-hairy above. Leaves all radical, spreading and appressed to the surface of the ground, 1–2 in. long, broadly ovate- or obovate-spathulate, obtuse, suddenly narrowed into broad short petioles, crenate, scarcely coriaceous, pale-green, upper surface and margins densely villous with glandular hairs, under-surface not so thickly clothed but rarely glabrate. Peduncle stout, 2–6 in. high, 2–8-flowered, most densely villous, as are the bracts, pedicels, and calyces. Bracts obovate or oblong, crenate; pedicels short, stout. Flowers large, ¾ in. diam., white shading into purple at the base. Calyx ⅓ in. long, 5-partite; segments linear-oblong, obtuse. Corolla-tube broad; lobes large, rounded, retuse at the tip. Capsule ovate-oblong, not seen quite ripe.
South Island: Marlborough—Kaikoura Mountains, Buchanan! Nelson—Mount Buckland, W. Townson! Canterbury, Westland, and Otago—Not uncommon on the higher mountains of the dividing-range. Stewart Island: Summit of Mount Anglem, Kirk! 3500–6500 ft. December–February.
This can hardly be described as erect, the leafy part of the stem being sometimes elongated and creeping. There seems to be two forms—one large and stout, very densely villous and with large flowers; the other smaller, with darker green leaves which are not so hairy, and with fewer smaller flowers.
5. O. Cockayniana, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxix. (1897) 426.—Forming large matted patches. Stems 3–6 in. long or more, branched, rather stout, creeping and rooting, glabrous or nearly so. Leaves in close-set opposite pairs, spreading and recurved, ¾–1¼ in. long, ovate or ovate-spathulate, obtuse, suddenly narrowed into rather long sheathing petioles, crenate, bright-green above, often purplish below, coriaceous, glabrous or the margins of the petioles ciliate. Peduncles stout, erect, purplish, 3–6 in. high, 3–6-flowered, glabrous or nearly so. Bracts rather large, narrow obovate-spathulate, crenate, margins sometimes ciliate towards the base; pedicels slender, 1–1½ in. long. Flowers large, ¾–1 in. diam., white. Calyx ⅓ in. long, 5-partite; segments oblong, obtuse. Corolla-tube broad, rather longer than the calyx; lobes broadly oblong, retuse. Ripe capsules not seen.
