Prostrate, mat-forming subshrub with thin stems that root at the nodes. Leaves to about 5 mm long, more or less ovate, thick, entire or with 1-2 cuts on each side. Flower clusters of mostly 6-10 or more flowers, the lowest in a distinctive, distant group of 3. Flowers white to pink, about 1 cm wide; summer.
New Zealand
P. lyallii (Hook. f.) W. Oliv. differs in having distinctly toothed leaves; while P. ×bidwillii (Hook. f.) W. Oliv. is a hybrid, P. decora × P. lyallii, which does not have the reddish leaves of P. decora and has 3-5 lobes each side of the leaf, the flowers are about 12 per cluster,white with purple veins, generally intermediate in characters between the parent species [P. 'Bidwillii']; P. hookeriana (Walp.) W. Oliv. can generally be distinguished by its overlapping leathery leaves and white-hairy stems and is sometimes available as the variety olsenii (Col.) M.B. Ashwin, which has leaves with pointed tips and generally sharp-toothed margins.
Source: (2002). Scrophulariaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
