Manual of the New Zealand Flora.
2. Montia, Linn
2. Montia, Linn.
A small glabrous herb. Leaves opposite, slightly fleshy. Flowers small, axillary or shortly racemose. Sepals 2, ovate, persistent. Petals 5, united at the base into a 5-lobed corolla, split open on one side. Stamens 3, rarely 5, inserted on the petals. Ovary free; ovules 3. Capsule globose, 3-valved, 3-seeded. Seeds nearly orbicular.
A monotypic genus, widely distributed in the north and south temperate zones.
1. | M. fontana, Linn. Sp. Plant. 87. —A slender perfectly glabrous branching herb, forming dense tufts 1–5 in. high, sometimes longer and weaker when growing in water. Leaves opposite, ¼–1 in. long, linear-lanceolate or spathulate, acute or subacute, quite entire. Flowers minute, solitary or in 2–3-flowered racemes, drooping. Petals slightly longer than the sepals. Capsules small.—Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. 13; Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 74; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 27; Kirk, Students' Fl. 65.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Auckland, Campbell, Antipodes, and Macquarie Islands: Abundant in watery places, from Rotorua and Taranaki southwards. Altitudinal range from sea-level to 4000 ft. |