A prostrate, creeping shrub (sometimes scrambling through low bushes) with very slender wiry stems and alternate, roundish ovate, or almost orbicular leaves, mostly heart-shaped at the base, sometimes obscurely toothed, 1⁄4 to 3⁄4 in. long. Flowers erect, solitary in the leaf-axils, 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 in. long, without petals, opening from July onwards. Calyx-tube pale orange yellow, the four ovate lobes 1⁄4 in. long, at first spreading then reflexed back to the tube, mostly purple but green at the base; anthers blue. Fruits flesh pink, 3⁄4 in. long, oval. Bot. Mag., t. 6139.
A native of the North Island of New Zealand, where it is found in rocky, sandy, or gravelly places near the coast. It was discovered in 1834 and introduced about twenty years later. In the wild this species is said to be trioecious – the individual plant may bear bisexual flowers or flowers that are either all male or all female. The cultivated form fruits freely, however, and makes a charming basket plant. It is fairly hardy.
