Closely allied to L. pumila, from which it differs in the more compound inflorescence, and in the much broader perianth-segments, with very conspicuous silvery-white margins.
5. L. leptophylla, Buchen. and Petrie in Oesterr. Bot. Zeit. 1898.—Small, slender, stoloniferous, 1–4 in. high. Leaves all radical, much shorter than the stems, ½–2 in. long, very narrow, almost filiform, tip obtuse, margins convolute, glabrous or nearly so, mouth of the sheath with a tuft of slender hairs. Inflorescence terminal, of a single 3–8 flowered head, or more rarely the head consists of 2 closely compacted clusters; bract at the base of the head small, leafy. Flowers small, about 112 in. long. Perianth-segments about equal or the outer a little shorter, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute, central portion dark chestnut-brown or almost black; margins broad, pale, membranous. Stamens 3, filaments filiform. Capsule equalling the perianth, rounded-obovoid, shining, dark-chestnut, sometimes almost black.
South Island: Otago—Mount Kyeburn, Petrie! 2000–3500 ft. December–January.
A very curious little plant, of which I have seen no specimens except Mr. Petrie's. It appears to differ from reduced states of L. campestris in the exceedingly slender stems, almost filiform leaves, and 3 stamens.
6. L. campestris, D.C. Fl. Fr. iii. 161.—Excessively variable in all its parts. Stems more or less densely tufted, stout or slender, very variable in size, usually from 6–14 in. high, but often reduced to 2 in., and sometimes reaching 18 or 20 in. Leaves mostly radical, always shorter than the stems, generally flat and grassy, but varying in breadth from 110 to ⅓ in., gradually narrowed into an obtuse and usually callous tip; margins flat or thickened, more or less ciliate with long hairs and often copiously so. Inflorescence very variable, in the most developed forms of numerous clusters on the branches of an umbellate cyme, the branches very unequal in length; but frequently the clusters are greatly reduced in number and the branches are often so short that the inflorescence is congested into a pyramidal or ovoid entire or lobed head. Lower bracts foliaceous; upper membranous, entire or lacerate, more or less ciliate. Flowers 110–16 in. long. Perianth-segments ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute, subequal, margins usually membranous, often white. Stamens 6. Capsule equalling the perianth, broadlv ovoid or obovoid, trigonous, obtuse, usually shortly mucronate.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 264; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 292; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 123; Buchen. Monog. Junc. 155.
Var. migrata, Buchen. in Oesterr. Bot. Zeit. 1898.—Stems 4–15 in. high. Leaves ⅛–⅕ in. broad; margins flat, not usually cartilaginous, ciliate but not conspicuously so. Inflorescence well developed, usually lax, the lateral clusters pedunculate. Flowers 110–18 in. long. Perianth-segments lanceolate, acute, dark chestnut-brown with white membranous margins.—L. campestris var. a, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 292. L. rhadina, Buchen. l.c. (a form with very narrow erect leaves).
