.jpg)
Manual of the New Zealand Flora.
2. Stellaria, Linn
2. Stellaria, Linn.
Annual or perennial herbs of very various habit, usually low-growing and diffuse, glabrous or pubescent. Flowers white, solitary or cymose, terminal or lateral. Sepals 5, rarely 4. Petals the same number, 2-cleft, rarely wanting. Stamens 10 or fewer by abortion, hypogynous. Ovary 1-celled; styles 3, or rarely 2, 4, or 5; ovules few or many. Capsule globose to oblong, few or many-seeded, dehiscing to below the middle into twice as many valves as. styles. Seeds granulate, tuberculate, or pitted.
A genus of about 75 species, dispersed over the whole world, but most abundant in cold and temperate regions. The 6 indigenous species are all endemic, but 3 others from the Northern Hemisphere have become naturalised. One of these, S. media, Linn., the common chickweed, is now so well established and has penetrated into such remote localities, (it has been gathered in Mac-page 63quarie Island) that a beginner will be certain to consider it indigenous. It has flaccid procumbent much-branched stems 6 in. to 2 ft. long, marked by an alternate pubescent line; ovate acuminate leaves, the lower on long ciliate petioles; and flowers both axillary and in terminal cymes.
Creeping and matted. Leaves orbicular. Sepals subulate-lanceolate, acute 1. S. parviflora. Creeping and matted. Leaves orbicular, ovate, obovate, or lanceolate. Sepals oblong-ovate, obtuse 2. S. decipiens. Small. Leaves soft, ovate. Sepals oblong, obtuse 3. S. minuta. Creeping or suberect. Leaves linear-oblong. Flowers almost sessile. Sepals ovate-lanceolate, acuminate 4. S. elatinoides. Glaucous, erect, dichotomously branched. Leaves linear. Flowers large, green, ¾ in. 5. S. Roughii. Tufted, suberect, rigid and wiry. Leaves acerose, linear-subulate 6. S. gracilenta.
| 1. | S. parviflora, Banks and Sol. ex Hook f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 25. —A slender pale-green flaccid herb with creeping stems rooting at the nodes, often much branched and forming broad matted patches 6–12 in. diam. or more, glabrous or with a few weak hairs on the petioles. Leaves membranous, ¼–½ in. long, orbicular or broadly ovate, acute or mucronate, rarely cordate at the base; blade usually longer than the petiole. Peduncles solitary, axillary, usually much longer than the leaves, 1–3-flowered; a pair of bracteoles at the fork of the peduncle, and another pair on one and sometimes on all the pedicels. Flowers minute, 1/12 in. diam. Sepals subulate-lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acute, with white scarious margins. Petals wanting or 5, 2-cleft to nearly the base, shorter than the sepals. Styles 3. Capsule longer than the sepals, deeply 6-valved. Seeds 4–12, red-brown, deeply pitted.—Hook.f. Handb. N.Z. FL 23; Kirk, Students' Fl. 57. S. oligosperma, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xviii. (1886) 257. S. pellucida, Col. l.c. xxvii. (1895) 383.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands: Abundant throughout in both lowland and mountain districts, ascending to over 4000 ft. Mr. Corenso's herbarium contains numerous examples of his S. oligosperma and S. pellucida, but I can find no characters to distinguish them from the ordinary form of the species, even as varieties. |
| 2. | S. decipiens, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 7.—A pale-green much and loosely branched decumbent herb, forming matted patches. Leaves ¼–⅔ in. long, orbicular or orbicular-ovate or broadly obovate, rather fleshy, acute or apiculate, with a callous tip, narrowed into a broad and slightly ciliate petiole. Peduncles axillary, usually 2-flowered, generally longer than the leaves; a pair of bracts at the fork of the peduncle and another on one of the pedicels. Flowers small, rather larger than those of S. parviflora. Sepals 5, oblong-ovate, obtuse or subacute. Petals 5, 2-cleft to the base, shorter than the sepals, often wanting. Capsules ⅓ longer than the sepals, oblong-ovoid, deeplv 6-valved. Seeds dark red-brown, tuberculate. —Hook. f. Ic. Plant, t. 680; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 23; Kirk, Students' FL 57.
page 64
Var. angustata, Kirk, l.c.—Leaves narrower than in the type, linear-lanceolate, acute or acuminate. Auckland and Campbell Islands: Woods near the sea, not uncommon, Hooker, Kirk! Chapman! Macquarie Island, A. Hamilton. Var. angustata: Antipodes Island, Kirk! A larger plant than the preceding, with more fleshy stems and leaves, larger flowers, and larger and more coarsely tuberculate seeds. It much resembles the European S. media, but can always be distinguished by the less developed inflorescence and by the absence of the pubescent line on the branches. |
| 3. | S. minuta, Kirk, Students' Fl. 57. —"Annual. Stems ½–1 in. high, narrowly winged, branched, glabrous, ciliate. Leaves ovate, acuminate or acute, narrowed into a short broad petiole; apex callous. Peduncles axillary, 1–2-flowered, with a pair of bracts at the base of the naked pedicels, not diverging. Sepals broadly oblong, obtuse. Petals 5, shorter than the sepals, 2-fid nearly to the base. Stamens 8, rarely 10. Capsule not seen."
South Island: Mount Stokes, 3000 ft., J. Macmahon! Westport, on the sea-beach, Dr. Gaze (a scrap only). The specimens of this in Mr. Kirk's herbarium are few and imperfect, and I have consequently reproduced his description. He remarks that it is "distinguished from all forms of S. parviflora, S. decipiens, and 8. elatinoides by the broadly obtuse sepals, and from S. media by its solitary or geminate flowers and the absence of the hairy line on the stems and branches." It looks to me much like a reduced form of S. parviflora. |
| 4. | S. elatinoides, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 25. —A small glabrous pale-green herb; stems 1–3 in. long, branched, decumbent at the base, ascending or suberect at the tips. Leaves 1/10–⅕ in. long, linear or linear-oblong, acute or subacute, narrowed into a short flat petiole. Flowers small, 1/10 in. diam., axillary and solitary, sessile or on short peduncles. Sepals ovate-lanceolate or subulate-lanceolate, acuminate, with white scarious margins. Petals absent in all the flowers examined. Stamens 5 or 10. Capsule ovoid, as long as the sepals, 6-valved to the middle. Seeds 6–12, red-brown, covered with large rounded tubercles.— Handb. N.Z. Fl. 23; Kirk, Students' Fl. 58.
North Island: Hawke's Bay—Lake Rotoatara and Cape Kidnappers, Colenso. South Island: Otago — Duntroon, Sowburn, Tuapeka Mouth, Speargrass Flat, Petrie! November. Easily recognised by the small size, narrow leaves, acuminate sepals, almost sessile flowers, and coarsely tubercled seeds. The above description is drawn up from Mr. Petrie's Otago specimens, the plant not having been seen in the North Island since Mr. Colenso's original discovery of it more than fifty years ago. It is very closely allied to the Tasmanian S. multiflora, if indeed not a form of that species. |
| 5. | S. Roughii, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 23. — An erect or straggling much-branched glabrous and succulent glaucous-green herb 2–6 in. high. Leaves ½–1 in. long, linear, acuminate, fleshy, 1-nerved. Flowers large, green, ½–¾ in. long, ½ in. diam., on short page 65stout terminal peduncles. Sepals very large, almost foliaceous, lanceolate, acuminate, with 3 stout nerves. Petals much shorter than the sepals, cleft almost to the base. Stamens 10. Styles 3. Capsule about half as long as the sepals, 6-valved to the base. Seeds 12–20, red-brown, covered with large projecting papillæ.—Kirk, Students' Fl. 58.
South Island: Nelson—Dun Mountain, Rough! T. F. C.; Wairau Gorge, Travers; Mount Captain, Kirk! Clarence Valley and Lake Tennyson, T. F. C. Canterbury—Mount Torlesse, Haast, Petrie, T. F. C.; Broken River and Upper Waimakariri, Enys! Kirk! T. F. C. Altitudinal range 3000 to 6000 ft. December–February. One of the most distinct species of the genus, remarkable for its fleshy glaucous habit, large green flowers, and the large papillæ on the seeds. It appears to be confined to bare shingle-slopes on the mountains. |
| 6. | S. gracilenta, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii. 326.—A loosely tufted rigid and wiry yellow-green herb 1–5 in. high; stems suberect, slightly scabrid, often matted and interlaced. Leaves opposite, glabrous, ⅙–¼ in. long, linear-subulate, curved, concave above, smooth and convex below when moist, when dry grooved on each side of the stout midrib; tip rigid, terete, acute; margins thickened, slightly ciliate at the base, not revolute; each stem-leaf with a small fascicle of leaves in its axil. Peduncles springing from the axils of the uppermost leaves, 1–3 in. long, solitary, strict, erect, 1-flowered, 2-bracteolate about the middle. Flowers ⅓ in. diam., greenish-white. Sepals oblong, acute, with broad membranous margins. Petals 5, rather longer than the sepals, 2-cleft almost to the base. Stamens 5–10. Styles 3. Capsule ovate-oblong, 6-valved; seeds pale-brown, papillose.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 24; Kirk, Students' Fl. 58.
South Island: Not uncommon in mountain districts, ascending to 5000 ft. Descends to sea-level at the mouth of the Waitaki River. November–February. Easily recognised by the strict wiry habit, subulate leaves, and very long erect peduncles. |