Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Manual of the New Zealand Flora.

3. Lobelia, Linn

3. Lobelia, Linn.

Herbs of very various habit, or (in species not found in (New Zealand) rarely shrubs. Leaves alternate, toothed, seldom entire. Flowers axillary and solitary, or in terminal racemes. Calyx-tube adnate to the ovary; limb 5-partite. Corolla oblique, split to the base at the back, 2-lipped; upper lip 2-partite, usually erect, lower 3-lobed, spreading. Staminal tube free from the corolla or rarely adnate to it at the very base; anthers connate, all or the 2 lower only tipped with bristles. Ovary 2-celled; ovules numerous; style filiform; stigma shortly bifid, often surrounded by a ring of hairs. Capsule 2-celled, opening loculicidally within the calyx-lobes into 2 valves. Seeds usually numerous, minute.

A large genus of over 200 species, rare in Europe and Western Asia, abundant in most other regions except the very coldest.

Stems 6–18 in., erect or decumbent. Leaves linear to obovate. Capsule linear-clavate 1. L. anceps.
Stems 1–6 in., creeping and rooting. Leaves ⅙–¼ in., obovate to orbicular, sinuate - dentate. Capsule oblong-obovoid 2. L. linnæoides.
Stems 2–5 in., tortuous among shingle. Leaves ½–1 in., orbicular-obovate, deeply toothed or lobed. Capsule large, broadly ovoid 3. L. Roughii.
1.L. anceps, Linn. f. Suppl. 395.—An erect or decumbent much or sparingly branched leafy herb, everywhere perfectly glabrous. Stems 6–18 in. long, flattened or angular or trigonous, sometimes winged. Leaves very variable in shape and size, 1–3 in. long, the lower ones usually linear-obovate or obovate, gradually narrowed into decurrent petioles, the upper lanceolate or ligulate, gradually passing into the floral leaves, which are smaller, sessile and linear, all sparingly toothed or nearly entire. Flowers small, on short axillary peduncles. Calyx-tube cylindrical, much longer page 400 than the short triangular lobes. Corolla pale-blue, ¼ in. long. Capsule elongated, ⅓–½ in. long, linear-clavate.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 158; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 171; Benth. Fl. Austral. iv. 128. L. alata, Labill. Pl. Nov. Holl. i. 51, t. 72; A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 227; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 421; Raoul, Choix, 44.

Kermadec Islands, North and South Islands, Chatham Islands: Common in lowland districts as far south as Oamaru and Okarito. November–March.

A very variable plant. Maritime specimens usually have larger, broader, and more succulent leaves than those found inland, and often present a very distinct appearance.

2.L. linnæoides, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxiii. (1891) 405.—A small creeping and rooting perennial herb; stems slender, glabrous, sparingly branched, 1–6 in. long. Leaves very shortly petiolate or almost sessile,⅙–¼ in. diam., orbicular or ovate-orbicular, coarsely sinuate-dentate, rather thick and coriaceous, often purplish beneath, glabrous or with minute bristly hairs above. Peduncles slender, erect, axillary, 1 - flowered, 1½–2½ in. long. Flowers ⅓–½ in. long. Calyx-lobes small, narrow-triangular, ½ in. long. Corolla ⅓ in. long, the lower lobes obovate, apiculate; the upper narrower, linear-oblong, acute. Anthers glabrous, the 2 lower ones tipped with minute flat bristles. Capsule ¼–⅓ in. long, narrow obovoid-oblong, straight. Seeds small, smooth.—Pratia(?) linnæoides, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 172.

South Island: Canterbury—Ashburton Mountains, T. H. Potts! Macaulay River, Haast; Lake Ohau, Buchanan! Otago—Lindis Pass, Hector and Buchanan; Mount Cardrona, Mount Pisa, Hector Mountains, Mount Tyndall,. Mount Bonpland, &c., Petrie! 2500–4500 ft. December–February.

3.L. Roughii, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 171.—A small perfectly glabrous perennial herb 2–5 in. high, full of white acrid fluid. Stems very slender, creeping, branched, tortuous among shingle; branches short, leafy at the tips. Leaves alternate, ½–1 in. long; blade broadly oblong or obovate to orbicular, narrowed into a broad flat petiole, coarsely and deeply toothed or lobed with a rounded sinus between the teeth, thick and coriaceous; main veins 5–7, spreading from the base of the leaf. Peduncles stout, erect, axillary, 1-flowered; at first shorter than the leaves, but lengthening as the fruit ripens, and sometimes reaching 2 in. or more. Flowers ½ in. long. Calyx globose; lobes linear, obtuse, coriaceous, lengthening as the fruit ripens. Corolla equalling the calyx-lobes, 3-lipped; the two dorsal petals (upper lip) being free from one another to the base; lower lip 3-lobed about ⅓ way down. Anthers glabrous. Capsule ⅓–½ in. long, broadly ovoid, coriaceous. Seeds very numerous.—Buck, in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiv. (1882) 347, t. 28, f. 1. page 401

South Island: Shingle slopes on the mountains, not common. Nelson—Dun Mountain, Rough; Wairau Gorge, Travers, T. F. C.; Waiau Valley, Travers. Canterbury—Mount Torlesse, Petrie! T. F. C.; mountains near the Broken River, Enys! T. F. C.; Mount Dobson, T. F. C.; mountains at the head of Lake Ohau, Buchanan! Otago—Mount Ida, Mount St. Bathans, Mount Kyeburn, Petrie! 3000–6000 ft. December–March.

A most distinct species, quite unlike any other. It is remarkable for the corolla being twice split to the base at the back, so that the flower is 3-lipped.