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Manual of the New Zealand Flora.
1. Rhabdothamnus, A. Cunn
1. Rhabdothamnus, A. Cunn.
A much-branched shrub; branches spreading, scabrid-pubescent. Leaves opposite. Flowers solitary, axillary. Calyx free, deeply 5-fid; lobes lanceolate, acuminate. Corolla-tube sub-campanulate; limb obscurely 2-lipped; lobes 5, rounded, spreading, nearly equal. Stamens 4 with the rudiment of a fifth, inserted on the corolla-tube below the middle; filaments long, linear, arched; anthers cohering at the apex in a cruciate manner; cells distinct, parallel. Disc small, obscure, annular. Ovary superior, ovoid; style filiform; stigma 2-lobed; ovules numerous, on thick and prominent 2-lobed placentas. Capsule ovoid, acuminate, coriaceous, 2-valved; valves 2-fid, separating from the placentas. Seeds numerous, minute, ovoid.
A monotypic genus confined to the North Island of New Zealand. It is closely allied to the New Caledonian Goronanthera and the Lord Howe Island Negria.
| 1. | R. Solandri, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 385.—Slender, much branched, 2–5 ft. high; branches opposite, terete, everywhere rough with short stiff greyish pubescence. Leaves on slender petioles; blade variable in size, usually ½–1 in. long, but sometimes over 2 in., broadly ovate or orbicular, coarsely toothed, both surfaces rough with short scabrid hairs, dull-green. Flowers handsome, ¾–1 in. long, orange with red stripes; peduncles slender, ½–1½ in. long. Capsule ¼–⅓ in. long, included within the persistent calyx.—Raoul, Choix, 44; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 186; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 221; C. B. Clarice in V.G. Monog. Phan. v. 166, t. 17. R. scabrosus, Steud. Nom. ed 2, ii. 443. Columnea scabrosa, Sol. ex D.G. Prodr. ix. 277.
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North Island: Lowland districts from the North Cape southwards to Wellington, but rare and local to the south of the Auckland Province. Sea-level to 2000 ft. Waiuatua; Matata, Flowers most of the year. For an account of the fertilisation, see a paper by Mr. Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. vol. xxxv. p. 321. |