Ovarium 4-loculai-e, sty lo elongato, stigmate clavato. Capsula 4 -g on a , 4-locularis, loculicide 4 -valvis,
polyspei-ma, vidvis membranaceis. Semina ascendentia, ad clialazam apicalem lo n g e comosa.
More or less pubescent or pilose, rarely glabrous, slender, erect herbs, wdth woody, perennial, erect or decumbent
stems, or with often creeping rhizomes, opposite or alternate leaves, and axillaiy, rosc-colom-ed or white
flowers. Cafyr-tnbe adnate with the very loug, liuear, tetragonous ovary, its limb four-cleft, deciduous. Petals
four. Stamens eight. Style slender, with a elavate, simple or lobed stigma. Capsule four-ceUed, four-valved;
dissepiments opposite tbe middle of the valves, w-ith numerous seeds attached to the a x is ; valves separating from
the four-winged axis.— Seeds with a ci-ustaceous tesla, and a long tuft o f silky hairs at the chalaza. (Name from
ewt, upon, and Xo/3os, a p o d ; in allusion to the limb o f the calyx surmounting the ovary.)
A very extensive Em-opean genus, abundaut in most temperate climates, and especiaUy so in New Zealand.
Many o f the species have veiy wide ranges, and are extremely diflieult of dctennination; characters have been
sought m all parts of the plants, but none appear very constant, except such as serve to distiuguish some of the
most proniineut sections of the genus. Lately, specific marks have been supposed to exist in tbc microscopic nature
o f the pubescence o f the wnnter leaf-shoots, but such characters can never be available for practical purposes, nor is
their value susceptible of being accmately estimated, for these shoots vary extremely, according to the mildness and
humidity o f tbe season, and they are not (like the floral organs) highly developed parts o f the plant. For my ow-n
part I must confess that I have no definite idea of w-hat are species and what not, in the g en u s; after a most cai-efid
study of all the southern forms in a dried state, I am quite unable to pronounce any decided opinion upon any of
them. In New Zealand, where the genus is more abundaut than in any other part of the globe, and covers great
tracts o f coimtry, I was quite unable to distinguish the species with any precision, though I studied them most
carefully in the live state, and at all periods o f gi-owth. In Britain too I have paid some attention to the native
forms, both wild and cultivated, with no better success. In all cases it is very easy to recognize certain forms as
more constant than others, but the idea that is conceived o f a species in the wild state, iu so variable a genus, is
modified extremely by, and perhaps whoUy depends upon, the cbaracter it assumes in the locality wherein it is most
examined; just as our ideas o f a species, when drawn from the collections of others, are founded upon the majority
o f the specimens they send. In the ‘ Flora Antarctica’ I have stated that there are in Tasmania plants exactly
resembling the European E. alpinum; I have not however included that species in the Tasmanian flora, as I believe
the specimens alluded to are only small states of E . ylabeUum, whoUy imdistinguishable however from E. alpinum.
In the present unsatisfactory state o f our systematic knowledge of the genus it is unsafe to speculate upon the
significance of such a fact as this ; it is but one of a great class which will, in my opinion, when properly w-orked
out and made as prominent as they should be, lead to a very different and much more satisfactory view o f specific
botany than what is usuaUy entertained.
In the descriptions of the species here given, the characters are aU relative only, and not absolute. In no
species are the leaves always and uniformly opposite, or always glabrous or hairy, and so o n ; it is almost hopeless
for any one who has not all or the majority of the Tasmanian species to compare together, to make out an
isolated specimen by the descriptions. The characters differ a little from those given to the same species in the
New- Zealand Flora, as I have thought it best to describe here the prevalent Tasmanian forms only.
a. Stems creeping. Flowers axillary. Peduncles o f ihe f r u it erect, slender, much longer than the leaves.
1 . E p i lo b iu m t e n t d p e s (N ob . in El. N . Zeal. i. 5 9 ) ; pusillum, caulibus brevibus e basi repente
decumbentibus bifariam pubescentibus, foliis confertis oppositis sessilibus anguste linear i-oblongis obscure
dentatis coriaceis glaberrimis, pedunculis fructiferis gracilibus str ie tis capsula glabrata longioribus. {Gunn,
1 0 6 6 , 2 0 2 8 .)
H a b . Abundant on th e summit o f Mou n t Olympus, forming large patche s; I s is River, Middlesex
Plains, Gunn.— (El. Jan.)
D i s t r i b . N ew Zealand.
The small size, procumbent liabit, glabrous foliage and capsules, creeping stem, crowded, linear-oblong, erect,
coriaceous, usually opposite leaves, and slender peduncles of the ripe finit, at once distinguish this pretty little
species from its Tasmanian congeners. I have seen an abundance of specimens, but from only two localities : whole
plant about two inches long ; leaves \ inch long ; pedimcles o f ripe fruit 1 inch, capsules shorter.— The comparative
length o f the peduncles and capsules are very variable characters in this genus, and much allowance must be made
for the above description.
b. Stems erect, or decumhent a t the v e iy base only. Peduncles o f the f r u it not much elongated.
2 . Epilobiixm pallidiflorum (Solander, MS S .) ; puberulum v. glabratum, caulibus e basi decumbente
strietis erectis foliosis teretibus, foliis oppositis sessilibus semiamplexicaulibus anguste lineari-
ob lon g is lanceolatisve eroso-serratis ven is subparallelis, floribus in axillis superioribus subracemosis, p ed u n culis
ovariisque c inereo-pubescentibus, floribus amplis.— A . Cunn. P ro d r . FI. N . Z ea l, in A n n . N a t. H is t.
iii. 3 4 ; FI. N Z ea l. i. 6 1 . E . macranthum. Nob. in H o oL Ic . P I . t. 2 9 7 . {Ounn, 2 5 2 .)
H a b . Very common in ditches, marshes, etc ., especially in the northern parts o f tlie Colony, as at
Formosa and Circular Head, Gunn.— (El. D ec . Jan.) («. v .)
D i s t r i b . N ew Zealand.
A very handsome plant, readily distinguished by its great size, opposite, nan-ow, semiamplexicaul leaves, ivith
somewhat parallel veins, and large flowers.— 5?«)?« creeping at the base, 2 -3 feet high, terete, glabrous, pubemlous
at the tips. Leaves linear-oblong or lanceolate, acute, 1 - 3 inches long, toothed, generaUy glabrous. Floicei's numerous,
nearly an inch across. Peduncles stout, and ovaries covered with cinereous down.
3 . Epilobium Billardierianum (Ser. in DC . Prodr. iii. 4 1 ) ; glabratum, caule basi breviter decumbente
dcin stricto erecto simplici v. parce ramoso, foliis oppositis sessilibus semiamplexicaulibus (inferioribus
interdum breve petiolatis) oblongis obtusis dentatis, pedicellis axilHs superioribus folio plerumque
brevioribus, capsulis e longatis pubescentibus glabratisve, floribus majusculis.— FI. N . Z eal. i. 6 1 . {Gunn,
8 0 4 , 8 0 5 .) ( T a b . X X I .)
H a b . Common in alpine situations, as on th e Hampshire H ills, Middle sex Plains, etc ., Gunn.— (FI.
Eeb.) {v. V.)
D i s t r i b . N ew Zealand.
The largest-flowered Tasmanian species, except E . p a llidiforum ; best recognized by this character, combined
with the opposite, sessile, oblong, toothed, blunt leaves. Stems 8 inches to 2 feet high, strict, erect, or decumbent
at the base, simple or sparingly branched, often red. Leaves 4 -* iûch long, the uppermost only alternate. Peduncles
o f the fruit short. Flowers i - l inch across, white or pink, dai-k outside.— P l a t e XXI. Fig. 1, upper p ait of
ovary, calyx, and coroDa ; 2, a petal ; 3, calyx-lobes, stamens, and style -.— a ll magnified.
4 . Epilobium tetragonum (Linn. Sp. PI. 4 9 4 ) ; glabratum v. puberulum (rarius pubesc ens), caule
erecto subsimplici ter eti v. obscure tetragono, foliis oppositis sessilibus v. semiamplexicaulibus oblongis
obtusis eroso-dentatis glabris, pedunculis plurimis axillis supremis folio brevioribus, capsulis elongatis
pubescentibus, floribus parvis.— DC. P ro d r . iii. 4 3 ; En g l. B o t. t. 1 9 4 8 ; FL A n t. ii. 2 7 0 ; FL N . Z eal.
i. 6 0 . {Gunn, 4 0 6 o f 1 8 4 2 , 8 0 5 .)
H a b . Common in moist, especially alpine, places th roughout th e Colony, L awrence, Gunn.— (El. D e c .
Jan.) {v . V.)
D i s t r i b . South-eastern Australia, N ew Zealand, temperate South America, and tliroughout the north
temperate and subarctic zones.
The E. tetragonum, described above, iias been the subject o f much study. It is an extremely variable plant,
like all its congeners. Its more prominent characters as a Tasmanian species are its strict, robust, glabrous stems,
VOL. I. 2 H