N at. O r d . X L V . STYLIDIEÆ, Br.
Gen. I . FORSTERA, L in n . fi l.
Flores monoici v. dioici. Calyx 1 -3 -b ra c teo la tu s ; limbus 3 -6 -p a rtitu s . campanulata ; limbus
4 -9 -fid u s ; faux n u d a v. glanduloso-incrassata. G landula epig}Tiæ staminibus alternæ. Antheræ 2, ad
apicem columnæ oppositæ, rima transversali deliiscentes. Stiyma 2-lobum v. stigmata 2, floribus fertilib
us porrecta, plumosa, masculis in tra antheras occlusa. Ovarium 1 -2 -lo c u la re ; ovula plurima, columnæ
centrali affixa, ascendentia, anatropa, Fructus capsularis, 1-locularis, septicide ? bivalvis. Semina minima,
co n ferta; testa reticu lata.— Herbæ perennes, solitariæ, simplices v. ramis dense congestis muscoideæ.
Folia alterna, imbricata. Flores sessiles v. pedunculati, albi.
Very remarkable alpine plants of Tasmania, New Zealand, and Fuegia, nearly allied to the extensive New
Holland genus Stylidkm. Stems simple and solitary, or branched and densely tufted, forming broad, hard, mossy
patches. Leaves more or less closely imbricated, alternate. Peduncles terminal, very short or wanting, or much elongated,
slender, one- to two-flowered. Ovary with one to three bracteæ at the base, turgid, one- to two-celled, with
many ovules. Cafya: lobes three to six, erect. Corolla white, campanulate, with a four- tonine-lobed spreading limb.
Stamens and style united into a central erect column, surmounting tbe ovary, having at its base two large, erect,
subulate or lunate glands. Anthers on the top of the column, sessile, bursting transversely, the two halves hooded,
upper turned back. Stigma two-lobed, inconspicuous in the male flowers, plumose and spreading in the fertile.
Fruit a membranous capsule. (Named in honour of J. R. Forster, who accompanied Captain Cook’s second voyage,
and discovered F. sedifolia at Dusky Bay ; a plant which was not gathered again till Dr. Lyall visited the southern
extreme of New Zealand sixty years afterwards, in H.M.St.Y". Acheron.)
§ a. F orstera. Stems elongated, simple or nearly so. Leaves loosely imbricated. Peduncles long, slender,
one- to iwo-fiotcered.
1. F orstera sedifolia, Liiiu. fil.; caule elougato^ foliis brevibus imbricatis crassis coriaceis patulis v.
reflexis obovatis obtusis enerviis costa subtus latissima marginibus cartilagineis, pedunculis gracillimis
1-floris, coroUa campanulata 6-fida fauce ad basin loborum cristis transversis bicruribus douata, glandulis
epigyiiis 2 erectis subulatis, ovulis in placentam centralem liberam u trinque eonfertis. Forst. Nov. Act.
JJps. V. 3. p . 184. t. 9. Koenig et Sims, An n . Bot. v. 1. t. a. A . R ich . Flora. A . Cunn. Prodr. BC . Frodr.
H a b . Middle and Southern Islands. Dusky Bay and Chalky Bay, etc., Forster, L ya ll.
A beautiful and very remarkable plant, varying in length of stem from 3 inches to a foot, and in size
of corolla from 4 -4 inch long. Stems slender, sparingly divided, descending deep in boggy earth, throwing
out fibres, covered throughout its length with closely set, uniform, small, patent or recurved, very coriaceous
leaves, which half-clasp the stem. Leaves 4 inch long, obovate, blunt, with broad cartilaginous margins, smooth,
nerveless above, below with a very broad midrib. Peduncle erect, slender, 3 -6 inches long, one-flowered. Bracts
two to three. Calyx lobes five to six, rather unequal, linear-oblong, blunt. Corolla white, persistent, rather coriaceous,
six-lobed to below the middle ; tube with a curved thickened ridge and purple spot below the blunt oblong
lobes. Ovules attached to both surfaces of a free, compressed, central placenta. Epigynous glands erect, subulate.—
This fine plant is allied through Lonatia to Saxifragece.
2. F orstera teneUa, Hook. fil. ; caule gracili brevi decumbente diviso basi nudo fibroso apice ascendente
parce folioso, foliis patulis lineari-obovatis obtusis margine te n u ite r cartilagineis enerviis costa incon-
spicua, pedunculis gracilibus elongatis 1-2-floris, floribus cernuis, corolla 6-loba lobis basi u trinque linca
incrassata donatis, glandulis epigynis subulatis, ovario post anthesin sursum elongato, capsula membranácea
lineari-elongata.
H a b . Middle Island. Milford Sound an d Otago, L ya ll.
A very much smaller and more slender plant than the last. Stem rooting and decumbent below, 1-3 inches
long, vvith leafy ascending apices. Leaves rather fleshy, but not thick or coriaceous, 4 inch long, obovate, blunt,
with a thickened cartilaginous border. Peduncle 3 -5 inches long, one- to two-flowered ; flowers nodding, smaller
thau in F. sedifolia. Calyx tube oblong, lengthened when the plant is fruiting; lobes five to six, broadly oblong.
Corolla white, campanulate, 4—^ inch long, of five to six broad blunt lobes, each with a vertical thickened ridge
at the base on either side. Stigmas two, broad, two-lobed. CapsuU membranous, linear-clavate, 4 inch long.—
A very pretty little species, nearly allied to the Tasmanian F. hellidifolia (Hook. Ic. Plant, t. 851), but wanting the
supplementary lobules between the lobes of the corolla.
3. F o rstera B idw illii, Hook. fil. ; caule robusto elongato basi undo fibroso cicatricato superne ascendente
simplici V. diviso folioso, foliis plurimis eonfertis coriaceis p atu lis lineari-ligulatis subacutis enerviis
marginibus recurvis cartilagineis, pedúnculo gracili plerumque 2-floro, floribus cernuis v. erectis, calyce
5~6-lobo, corolla 5 -7 -lo b a glandulisque u t in F. tenella, capsula clavata.
H a b . N o rth e rn Islan d . Tongariro, B idw ill. Ruahine range, etc., Colenso.
Intermediate in size, form, and habit between F. sedifolia and F. tenella, having the long, stout, leafy stems of
the former, and the longer, less imbricated leaves of the latter. Stems simple or divided, 3 -8 inches long, stout,
scarred, fibrous below, leafy above for 2 -4 inches. Leaves thick, coriaceous, spreading, 4 inch long, linear, rather
sharp, nerveless, with narrow, recurved, cartilaginous margins. Peduncles slender, generally two-flowered. Flowers
close together, white, like those of F. tenella. Capsule membranous, club-shaped, six-nerved, not linear as in the
last species.— This plant I had regarded as the F. sedifolia till I received Dr. Lyall’s specimens of that plant, which
show it to be very distinct. The remarks, however, in ‘ Flora Antarctica,’ under F. clavigera (made in allusion to
F, sedifolia from an examination of this), equally apply to F. sedifolia, except in the unimportant character of the two-
flowered peduncle.
§ b. H elophyllum. Sterns short, very densely tufted. Leaves very closely imbricated. Flowers solitary, sessile.
4 . F o rste ra clavigera, Hook. fil. ; densissime cæspitosa, compacta, caulibus erectis ramosis, foliis den-
sissimis arete imbricatis semiteretibus apicibus nodoso-incrassatis, floribus terminalibus sessilibus solitariis.
F l. Antarct. p . 38. t. 28.
H a b. N o rtliern Island. Top of th e Ruahine mountains, Colenso.
This very remarkable plant was discovered by myself on Lord Auckland’s Group, where it forms dense, hard,
green, convex patches on the ground. It probably abounds on the mouutains of the Middle and Southern Islands,
but I have not seen it thence. The stems are 2 -3 inches long, and with the leaves nearly 4 meh thick ; a good
deal like those of Donatia Novæ-Zelandiæ, which it also resembles in the sessile solitary white flower, buried
among the leaves, aud the styles aud anthers growing together from between the great epigynous glands. Corolla
of the same character as in tbe former species, but much smaller; generally seven-lobed, with a more tubular base
and spreading limb. Epigynous glands depressed, lunate.
N ote. Slylidium spathulatum, Br., introduced into A. Cunn. Prodr. from A. Rich. Flora, is a native of New
llolland, aud erroneously supposed to be a New Zealand plant.