of New Zealand
Alpine Plants of New Zealand
ISBN 0 7900 0525 5
by kind permission of the author, Lawrie Metcalf and Reed Publishing
Publication or other use of images or descriptive
text on these pages is unauthorised unless written permission is
obtained from the author and publisher. Appropriate acknowledgement
of the publication Alpine Plants of New Zealand must always
- A wide-spreading,
creeping and rooting herb which often forms large or extensive,
matted patches. Stems slender and much interlaced.
- Leaves: Variable
in size, 4-12 mm by 3-13 mm, more or less rounded with a few rather
coarse teeth around the margins.
White, 7-20 mm long, produced singly on slender stalks from 2-6
- Fruits: Magenta
or purplish-red berries are rounded or oval and 7-12 mm in diameter.
- North, South and Stewart
Islands in lowland to low alpine regions throughout. Sea level
to 1300 metres.
- Common in damp situations
in subalpine grasslands, banks, streamsides, open forest and herbfields.
Grows in a wide variety of situations, and easily recognised because
of the way the flower is split along one side so that the five
petals (corolla lobes) are unevenly spaced around it. Not infrequently,
ripe fruit can be seen on plants at the same time that they are
Between October and April.
January to July.
Alpine Garden Links
Reproduced from Alpine Plants
of New Zealand:
Also see the article
by Raymond Mole on:
New Zealand Alpine Plants: A Challenge for
Zealand Alpine Garden Society