Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Gentianales Juss. ex Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Rubiaceae
Genus
Nertera Banks & Sol. ex Gaertn.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Nertera balfouriana Cockayne
 Description

Forming ± dense patches up to c. 25 cm. diam., glab. Stems ± fleshy, slender, sparingly to much branched; branches and branchlets very slender. Lvs on slender shallowly canaliculate petioles (1)–2–(4) mm. long. Stipules c. 1 mm. long, subtriangular, membr., pale; tip acute or subacute. Lamina broad-ovate to broad-oblong to obovate or subrotund (diverse shapes on same plant); (1·5)–2–4–(5) × (1)–2–3–(4) mm., obtuse; rounded to truncate or subcordate at base. Fls axillary and terminal, sessile, markedly protogynous. Calyx truncate, obsolescent. Corolla 4-lobed; tube 2·25–3 mm. long, glab., funnelform; lobes bluntly triangular, reflexed, papillose on margins. Styles projecting beyond anthers, recurved, united in basal third. Stamens c. 5 mm. long, erect. Drupe pyriform, (6·5)–7–9 mm. long, yellow to light orange.

[From: Allan (1961) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 1.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Bibliography
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Not Threatened]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Not Threatened]