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Manual of the New Zealand Flora.

2. Cardamine, Linn

2. Cardamine, Linn.

Annual or perennial often flaccid herbs, glabrous or slightly pubescent. Leaves entire or more frequently pinnately divided. Flowers white or purplish. Sepals equal at the base. Petals clawed. Stigma simple or 2-lobed. Pod long, narrow-linear, compressed; valves usually fiat, opening elastically; septum membranous, transparent. Seeds numerous, flattened, in one series; cotyledons accumbent.

A rather large genus of over 60 species, inhabiting the temperate and cool regions of both hemispheres. Of the seven species found in New Zealand one is a very widely diffused plant, another extends to Australia, the remaining five are endemic.

A.Rootstock slender, short.
Slender, usually flaccid. Leaves pinnate (reduced to a single pinnule in var. uniflora). Flowers small 1. C. hirsuta.
Small, depressed. Leaves all radical, spathulate. Flowers small 2. C. depressa.
Leaves all radical, pinnatifid at the base. Flowers large 3. C. bilobata.
Tall, slender, branched and leafy. Flowers in elongated racemes. Seeds pitted 4. C. stylosa.
B.Rootstock stout, fleshy, as thick as the finger, crowned with numerous rosulate radical leaves.
Flowering-stems 6–18 in. Leaves almost glabrous. Pods narrow, 1/15–1/12 in. broad 5. C. fastigiata.
Flowering-stems 6–24 in. Leaves villous. Pods broad, ⅙–¼ in. 6. C. latesiliqua.
Flowering-stems short, 2–4 in. Leaves covered with stellate pubescence. Pods narrow 7. C. Enysii.
1.C. hirsuta, Linn. Sp. Plant. 655.—A very variable glabrous or slightly hairy annual or perennial herb, usually much branched from the base. Stems erect or decumbent, occasionally as much as page 3318 in. high, but usually from 6–12 in., in alpine varieties sometimes reduced to 1 in. or 2 in. Lower leaves pinnate; leaflets few, rounded or ovate, entire or toothed, usually stalked, sometimes reduced to 1. Cauline leaves few, pinnatifid with narrow segments. Flowers usually small, few or many, sometimes reduced to 1. Petals narrow, erect or slightly spreading. Stamens sometimes 4 only, especially in European specimens. Pods erect, slender, ½–¾ in. long, very narrow; stvle short.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 13; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 12; Kirk, Students' Fl. 26.

Var. debilis, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 12.—Erect or decumbent, often much branched. Leaflets in several pairs, rounded or cordate. Pods slender, with long slender styles.—C. debilis, Banks and Sol. ex D.C. Syst. ii. 265; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 626; Raoul, Choix de Plantes, 47. Sisymbrium heterophyllum, Forst. Prodr. n. 250; A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 310.

Var. corymbosa, Hook. f. l.c.—Smaller. Leaflets in 2 pairs or reduced to a terminal one. Flowers in few-flowered corymbs.—C. corymbosa, Hook.f. Fl. Antarct. i. 6; Hook. Ic. Plant, t. 686.

Var. subcarnosa, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 5.—Stout and fleshy. Leaflets 3–6 pairs, obovate or oblong. Flowers numerous, large, corymbose.

Var. uniflora, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 12.—Small, the leaves reduced to one pinnule. Flowers on a slender 1-flowered scape, rather large, sometimes ¼ in. diam.

North and South Islands, Chatham Island, Stewart Island: The variety debilis abundant throughout. The remaining varieties not uncommon in mountain districts in the South Island, and extending to the Auckland and Campbell Islands. Altitudinal range from sea-level to 6500 ft.

Widely distributed in the temperate regions of both hemispheres, and exceedingly variable wherever it is found.

2.C. depressa, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 6.—A small glabrous or pilose stemless perennial. Leaves numerous, crowded, rosulate, 1–2 in. long, elliptic or ovate-spathulate, quite entire or varying from crenate to deeply lobulate, rounded at the tip or retuse, narrowed into petioles of variable length. Flowers small, either solitary on slender scapes or in few - flowered corymbs. Pods ½–1½ in. long, stout, erect; styles short, stout.—Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 12; Kirk, Students' Fl. 27.

Var. depressa, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 12.—Larger, usually glabrous. Leaves generally lobulate.—C. depressa, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 6, t. 3 and 4b.

Var. stellata, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 12.—Smaller, glabrous or pilose. Leaves entire or nearly so.—C. stellata, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 7, t. 4A.

South Island: Var. depressa: Nelson — Wairau Mountains and Lake Tennyson, Travers, T. F. C. Marlborough—Mount Mouatt, Kirk! Canterbury—Hopkins River and Lake Ohau, Haast. Otago—Lake District, Hector and Buchanan. Auckland and Campbell Islands: Both varieties abundant, ascending to nearly 2000 ft., Sir J. D. Hooker, Kirk!

Chiefly distinguished from reduced forms of C. hirsuta by the habit, spathulate leaves, and stout erect pods.

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3.C. bilobata, T. Kirk, Students' Fl. 27.—Perfectly smooth and glabrous, 4–12 in. high. Rootstock rather stout. Leaves all radical, on slender petioles 1–4 in. long; blade ½–1½ in. long, oblong, or obovate, in small specimens sometimes entire, but usually pinnatifid with a very large terminal lobe and 1 or 2 pairs (rarely more) of small spreading lobes at its base. Flowering-stems 1–3, few-flowered, naked; pedicels slender, ½–1 in. long or more. Flowers large, white, sometimes nearly ½ in. diam. Pods ¾–1 in. long, narrow-linear, spreading; style long and slender.

South Island: Canterbury—Broken River, T. F. C. Otago — Kurow Mountains, Mount Ida Range, Hector Mountains, Petrie! Altitudinal range 1000–3000 ft.

The fully developed state of this plant is well marked by the peculiarly lobed leaves, large flowers, and spreading pods with long slender styles. But small varieties, with the leaves entire or nearly so, show a tendency to approach C. depressa.

4.C. stylosa, D.C. Syst. Veg. ii. 248.—A tall rather coarse perfectly glabrous leafy branching herb 2–3 ft. high; erect or decumbent. Leaves 3–5 in. long, oblong-lanceolate or oblong-spathulate, entire or more usually minutely and remotely sinuate-toothed, sometimes lobed or pinnatifid at the base; uppermost sessile, auricled at the base; lower on long petioles. Racemes very long, 1–2 ft. Pedicels stout, short, spreading. Flowers small, white. Pods horizontally spreading, 1–1½ in. long, 1/12 in. broad; style stout. Seeds red-brown, with a reticulate testa.—Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 12; Kirk, Students' Fl. 27. C. divaricata, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 13. Arabis gigantea, Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 259.

Kermadec Islands: Macaulay Island, not uncommon, T. F. C. North Island: In several localities from Mongonui southwards, but often rare and local. South Island: Marlborough — Queen Charlotte Sound, Banks and Solander! Picton, J. Rutland; Mount Stokes, J. Macmahon.

Readily known by its large size and branched leafy habit. long racemes, and horizontally spreading pods and pitted seeds. It is a common Australian and Tasmanian plant.

5.C. fastigiata, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 13.—Rootstock long, stout, tapering, often as thick as the finger, bearing at the top a rosette of densely crowded radical leaves. Leaves 1½–3 in. long, linear-or lanceolate-spathulate, acute, sharply and deeply inciso-serrate, gradually narrowed into a broad flat petiole, thick and coriaceous, glabrous or with a few weak hairs on the margins. Cauline leaves similar, but smaller and less toothed. Flowering-stems usually several springing from the top of the rootstock among the radical leaves, simple or branched, 6–18 in. high. Flowers numerous, white, corymbose, about ⅓ in. diam. Petals ⅓ in. long, spathulate, on long claws. Pods erect or nearly so, straight or curved, acute at both ends, narrow-linear, 1–2 in. long, 1/15–1/12 in. broad. Seeds page 35compressed, red-brown.—Kirk, Students' Fl. 28. Arabis fastigiata, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii. 324. Pachycladon elongata, Buch. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xix. (1887) 216. Notothlaspi Hookeri, Buch. l.c. xx. (1888) 255, t. 13.

South Island: Nelson—Wairau Gorge, Sinclair! T. F. C. Marlborough. —Macrae's Run, Monro; Upper Awatere, Kirk! Canterbury—River-bed of the Macaulay, Haast. Otago—Mountains near Lakes Wanaka and Ohau, Buchanan! Altitudinal range 2500–5000 ft.

This and the two following species differ from Cardamine in the seeds being 2-seriate.

6.C. latesiliqua, Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xv. (1883) 298. —Rootstock stout, spongy, as thick as the finger, often branched at the top, each division furnished with a rosette of densely crowded radical leaves. Flowering-stems few or many, erect or spreading, branched, leafy at the base, 6–24 in. high. Radical leaves 3–6 in. long, ⅓–⅔ in. broad, narrow linear-spathulate to obovate-spathulate, gradually narrowed to the base, coarsely serrate above, thick and coriaceous, more or less villous, especially on the margins. Upper cauline leaves smaller, lanceolate, nearly entire. Flowers rather large, white, very numerous. Petals nearly ½ in. long, spathulate, on long claws. Pods erect or suberect, usually curved, somewhat turgid, 1½–2½ in. long, ⅙–¼ in. broad. Seeds numerous, compressed, reddish-brown.—Kirk, Students' Fl. 28.

South Island: Nelson—Mount Arthur, T. F. C. Bryant! Gibbs! Mount Owen and the Raglan Mountains, T. F. C. Altitudinal range 3000–5500 ft. December–January.

A handsome plant, with much of the habit and general appearance of C. fastigiata, but easily distinguished by the villous leaves, larger flowers, and much broader pods, which have a turgid appearance very unusual in the genus.

7.C. Enysii, Cheesem. MSS. — Short, stout, 2–4 in. high. Rootstock thick and fleshy, perpendicular, ½ in. diam., bearing at its summit numerous radical leaves, and a short flowering-stem which is much branched from the base, and forms a rounded or pyramidal head 2–5 in. diam. Leaves ½–1½ in. long, ⅓–½ in. broad, oblong-spathulate, obtuse or subacute, narrowed into a broad flat petiole, rather thin, sharply serrate, sometimes almost pinnatifid, more or less densely clothed on both surfaces with stellate pubescence. Cauline leaves linear or linear-spathulate, toothed towards the tip. Flowers numerous, corymbose, white. Pedicels slender, spreading, ¼–⅓ in. long. Petals spathulate, with long claws. Pods (immature) narrow-linear, flat, about 1 in. long. Seeds numerous, in 2 series.—Kirk, Students' Fl. 28.

South Island: Canterbury — Mountains at the head of the Broken River, alt. 6500 ft., J. D. Enys and T. F. C.; Craigieburn Mountains, alt. 6000 ft., Cockayne! Otago—Mount Ida, 5000 ft., Petrie!

A very remarkable plant, easily separated from the two preceding species by the smaller size, depressed habit, and stellate pubescence. The seeds are too immature in all my specimens to allow me to determine the position of the radicle, and it is possible that the plant may not belong to Cardamine.

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