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Manual of the New Zealand Flora.
5. Wahlenbergia, Schrad
5. Wahlenbergia, Schrad.
Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate or rarely opposite. Peduncles terminal or axillary, often forming leafy panicles. page 402Flowers usually blue or white. Calyx-cube adnate to the ovary; limb 5-partite, rarely 3–4- or 6–7-partite. Corolla regular, cam-panulate or more or less, tubular at the base; lobes as many as the divisions of the calyx, valvate. Stamens free from the corolla; filaments often dilated at the base; anthers oblong, free. Ovary 2–5-celled; ovules numerous; style cylindric; stigma 2–5-fid. Capsule 2–5-celled, opening loculieidally within the calyx-lobes with 2–5 valves. Seeds numerous, small.
A large genus of about 80 species, most numerous in South Africa, but not uncommon in other parts of the Southern Hemisphere; rare in the tropics or m the north temperate zone.
Annual. Stems leafy, usually branched. Leaves never rosulate. Corolla 5-lobed, much longer than the calyx 1. W. gracilis. Perennial. Leaves rosulate or crowded on the short stems. Corolla 5-lobed, much longer than the calyx 2. W. saxicola. Perennial. Leaves crowded, spathulate, with thick white cartilaginous margins. Corolla 5-partite nearly to the base, altogether included within the calyx-lobes 3. W. cartilaginea.
| 1. | W. gracilis, A. D. C. Monog. Camp. 142.—An exceedingly variable annual or rarely perennial herb. Stems slender, angled, 3–24 in. long, erect or decumbent at the base, simple or branched, glabrous or more or less hispid with stiff white hairs. Lower leaves ½–2 in. long, obovate or spathulate to lanceolate or linear, often narrowed into a more or less distinct petiole, entire or sinuate-toothed; margins often cartilaginous; upper leaves smaller and narrower, sometimes almost subulate, sessile, entire or sinuate. Peduncles slender, terminating the branches, very variable in length. Flowers ¼–½ in. long, dark or pale blue, sometimes almost white. Calyx-tube from ovoid to narrow-obconic; lobes 3–5, linear from a triangular base. Corolla variable in size, campanulate, 3–5-lobed. Capsule ¼–½ in. long, oblong or obconic, narrowed into the peduncle. Seeds ellipsoid, compressed, smooth.—A. Rich. Fl. Noun. Zel. 225; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 420; Raoul, Choix, 44; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 159; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 169; Benth. Fl. Austral. iv. 137. Campanula gracilis, Forst. Prodr. n. 84.
Kermadec Islands, North and South Islands, Chatham Islands: Common throughout, ascending to 4000 ft. November–February. Also in Australia and Tasmania, eastern Asia, and southern Africa. Several varieties have been named, but they run so much into one another that it is hardly possible to satisfactorily define them. |
| 2. | W. saxicola, A. D. C. Monog. Camp. 144.—A small perfectly glabrous perennial herb 2–12 in. high, either simple or with a branched rootstock putting up few or many short erect stems, usually leafy at the base only. Leaves rosulate or crowded on the short stems, ½–1½ in. long, from narrow-obovate to oblanceolate or almost linear, obtuse or acute, narrowed into a short petiole, page 403entire or obscurely toothed or crenate, in alpine specimens often thick and coriaceous; margins sometimes white and cartilaginous. Peduncles leafless, 1-flowered, 2–8 in. high. Flowers variable in size, ⅓–1 in. diam., white or pale-blue. Calyx-tube obconic; lobes ovate-subulate, shorter than the corolla-tube. Corolla campanulate, 5-lobed, straight or slightly oblique. Anthers short, linear-oblong, 1 or 2 of them tipped with a short point. Capsule obconic. or turbinate, 2–3-celled. Seeds numerous, compressed, smooth.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 160; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 170; Fl. Tasm. i. 239, t. 71; Bot. Mag. t. 6613; Benth. Fl. Austral. iv. 138. W. albomarginata, Hook. Ic. Plant, t. 818. W. pygmsea, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxi. (1899) 273. Streleskia montana, Hook. f. in Hook. Lond. Journ. Bot. vi. (1847) 266. Campanula saxicola, R. Rr. Prodr. 561.
Var. congesta.—Stems creeping, much branched and interlaced, forming densely matted patches several inches in diam. Leaves ¼–1 in. long, orbicular-or oblong-spathulate, suddenly narrowed into a petiole often longer than the blade. Peduncles short, ¾–2 in. long. Flowers ⅛–½ in. diam., pale-blue. Capsule globose, ¼–⅓ in. diam. North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Abundant in hilly and mountainous situations from the East Cape and Taupo southwards. Var. congesta: Cape Foulwind. near Westport, W. Townson! Sea-level to 6000 ft. December–February. Almost as variable as the preceding. There are two chief forms, one rather larger, with broad thinnish leaves, a long peduncle, and handsome large white flowers; the other smaller, with usually narrower and more coriaceous leaves and smaller blue flowers. Mr. Townson's plant from Cape Foulwind, which forms broad densely matted patches in sandy soil, has a very distinct appearance, and almost deserves specific rank. |
| 3. | W. cartilaginea, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 170.—A small glabrous or pubescent perennial herb 1–4 in. high. Leaves mostly radical, ⅓–1 in. long, broadly spathulate, obtuse, very thick and coriaceous; margins much thickened, entire, white, cartilaginous; petioles broad and flat, thickly coriaceous. Peduncles short, stout, erect, naked or with 1 or 2 leaves, sometimes forked. Flower large for the size of the plant, ½–¾ in. diam., sweet-scented. Calyx-tube short, almost globose; lobes large, linear-oblong, with thick white cartilaginous margins. Corolla shorter than the calyx-lobes and included within them, broad, 5-partite almost to the base. Capsule turbinate.
South Island: Nelson—Wairau Gorge, Rough! Kirk! Tarndale, Sinclair! Clarence and Wairau Valleys, Travers. 3500–6000 ft. January. A very remarkable species, easily distinguished by the broad and thick cartilaginous margins to the leaves, large calyx-lobes, and small deeply divided corolla, which is altogether included within the calyx. It is apparently rare an4 local, and I have only seen very indifferent specimens. |