7. C. macrantha, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 266.—Much larger than the other species, 2–8 in. high or more. Leaf on a petiole ½–3 in. long; lamina ¾–2 in. diam., broadly oblong or orbicular, obtuse or apiculate or rarely 3-lobed at the tip, cordate or 2-lobed at the base, thick and fleshy when fresh, thin and membranous when dry, veins finely reticulate. Peduncle from the base of the petiole, at first short, but elongating as the flower withers, often 4–10 in. long in fruit. Flower large, ½–1 in. long, dark-purple; bract small. Upper sepal narrow, concave, arched over the lip, somewhat expanded above, acute or acuminate. Lateral sepals and petals filiform, 1–2 in. long. Lip large, tubular below, the margins meeting behind the column and enclosing it, base with a rounded auricle on each side, upper part abruptly recurved and much expanded all round, margins undulate, minutely erose ordenticula.te. Column short, stout, bent backwards.—C. papillosa, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 337. Nematoceras macrantha, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 229, t. 57a.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands, Auckland and Campbell Islands: Not uncommon in damp shaded places throughout. Sea-level to 2500 ft. October–December.
Closely allied to C. triloba, but much larger, the leaves rarely 3-lobed at the tip, the upper sepal acute or acuminate, and the lip larger. Both it and C. triloba frequently have the peduncle bent backwards, so that the flower lies with the upper sepal undermost and the lip above.
21. GASTRODIA, R. Br.
Leafless terrestrial brownish herbs. Root long, tuberous, usually parasitic on the roots of other plants. Stem simple, erect, furnished with lax sheathing scales. Flowers in a terminal raceme. Sepals and petals connate into a ventricose 5-lobed tube more or less slit on the anterior side. Lip shorter than the perianth, attached at the base to the foot of the column, and adnate at the back to the perianth-tube; lamina erect, furnished with longitudinal raised lines or naked, margins undulate. Column long or short, narrowly 2-winged; rostellum small; stigma near the base of the column, prominent. Anther lid-like, incumbent; pollinia free, granular.
A small genus of 8 or 9 species, ranging from New Zealand and Australia northwards to Malaya, the Himalayas, China, and Japan.
| Raceme 2–8 in., many-flowered. Perianth ¾ in. Column elongated, ⅔ the length of the lip | 1. G. sesamoides. |
| Raceme 6–12 in., very many flowered. Perianth ½ in. Column very short, barely ¼ the length of the lip | 2. G. Cunninghamii. |
| Stem slender, almost filiform. Raceme 1–3 in., 3–5-flowered. Perianth ½ in. Column very short, barely ¼ the length of the lip | 3. G. minor. |
