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Volume 10, 1877
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III.—Botany.

Art. XLVI.—On Grasses.

By S. M. Curl, M.D.

[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 1st September, 1877.]

I hap the honour on a former occasion of laying before the Wellington Philosophical Society the results of some of my observations on those grasses and fodder-plants that, from experiment in acclimatization, growth and culture, and after chemical analysis, grazing of cattle and horses, and folding of sheep upon them, had been found to be valuable for the grazier and farmer to introduce into their fields and pastures, with the object of making them far more productive than they are at present with the grasses and clovers usually sown.

It is well known that there is a great scarcity of grass in the pastures during the dryness of summer, and also in a cold or wet winter; my experiments have proved to me there were exotic grasses that would supply this deficiency, and clothe the pastures at all times with abundant and nutritious herbage. In addition to the grasses already mentioned in my former paper, I now desire to give you the results of further experiments upon other new grasses not hitherto cultivated by farmers and pastoralists in New Zealand. It is probable that for a considerable period pastoral pursuits will be more profitable to many of those who come to invest their capital in New Zealand than the growing of cereals.

That the profitable return to individuals and the money introduced into the colony for the wool, tallow and other produce may be the greatest in proportion to the quantity of land occupied by the sheep, cattle, etc., it behoves the pastoralist to make two blades of grass grow where one grew before, and also that these two blades shall be of a more nutritive kind than the one was. Therefore as competition within and without the colony is likely to increase, the pastoralist must make up his mind to grow not only the best and most fattening grasses, but sow such a variety of them that he will be able to keep the largest number of stock upon his land both summer and winter. But as, in addition to the graziers, there will be a large number of colonists who, having labour within their own families, or who for other reasons will be able to carry on the cultivation of cereals conjoined with the production of meat, wool, etc., in a rotation of agricultural operations, it follows that these farmers will find it best to grow the most suitable grasses upon their fields during the time the live-stock

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are feeding thereon, so that these cattle may in the shortest time be ready for the market. But the operations of these graziers and farmers will necessitate their growing upon their several lands very different species of grasses. To the grazier permanency will be a great recommendation in the grasses he selects, while to the farmer, although the grasses must be both fattening and nutritious, yet he will only require them to be annuals and biennials, so that they may not occupy his land more than one or two years after sowing.

But these are not all the conditions necessary in the selection and sowing of grasses, it is requisite to choose those that will best suit the kind of soil, its topographical situation, annual state of moisture, chemical constituents, and many other circumstances. A grass may be very valuable when planted on one piece of ground, and nearly worthless when planted upon another. The grazier or farmer is often surprised that a grass or clover he has seen extolled in books, etc., will not grow upon his land, or if it manages to keep itself alive will bear but little herbage, and that little will not fatten his live stock, or cause them to grow wool; or a grass may be very good of itself, but in the struggle for existence some more vigorous grass may overgrow and kill it, as for example, the Holcous lanatus will destroy the doob, or any weaker growing grass near it. Therefore it is necessary that before any grass or clover is sown, these various conditions and many others must be taken into account and attended to, that the best results may follow. For there is all the difference between keeping a sheep to the acre, or ten, or even more, or one head of large cattle to every five acres, or one or two bullocks to every acre, and to fatten them by the time they are twenty-four or thirty months old. It is no use purchasing valuable short-horn cattle, or Lincoln or Leicester sheep, if the pastures are not what they ought to be by the grass growing vigorously and with its chemical constituents properly combined, thus producing the largest amount of nutritious food, for, as Mr. Bakewell said, “It is the feeding more than the breeding that tells.”

The pastures may even look green, but the stock may not thrive, and upon the chemist testing the grasses his analysis may show that the minerals and organic elements are not normally proportioned. But, further, while one grass will fail to feed, or will not even grow, another species in the same place will thrive and bear abundant herbage, and both nourish and fatten stock.

We have lately seen wonder expressed at the rye and other grasses affected with the ergot fungus (Secale cornutum) and that stock fed thereon suffer. This is apparently a great mystery to some, but none to the

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scientist, as he knows that whenever a plant is growing in an unhealthy condition, it is liable to the attacks of disease, and becomes the host and supporter of parasites.

In experimenting with grasses and fodder plants, it is therefore necessary not only to introduce them from distant countries where they are indigenous, and acclimatize them, but, after they are acclimatized, to grow them upon various kinds of soil, and under different conditions; the soil of the experimental beds must represent these soils and conditions, or the experiments are worthless. The soils must vary between a light sandy mould, sandy loam, stiff loam, friable clay, stiff clay, calcareous sands and marl, and must be drained and undrained. The experiments must be carried on during summer and winter, and the resulting herbage must be weighed, measured, and chemically analyzed during the first three years of the experiments, and then fed off by live stock pastured thereon for definite periods, according to the results desired to be tested, and this for not less than three years, as the first year's feeding power is often different from the subsequent second, and third years. The grasses have after this to be allowed to seed, and this seed then to be sown with twelve or more vigorous grasses and clovers, and if these do not smother them they are able to take their places among grasses for permanent pastures. If they do not stand this test their merits are known, and they can be placed in the position they ought to hold as fodder or temporary grasses.

For these and many other reasons I find it very difficult to predict what any grass will really be until actual experiment in growth and testing has revealed its qualities. Amongst the hundreds of grasses I have grown from many parts of the world, I am never able to say with certainty, until after years of continued experiment, what a grass will be worth in permanent or temporary pasture; some that are very poor for the first few years improve with each year after they have been planted out permanently among the mixed grasses and grazed over, whilst others cannot stand against more vigorous grasses, or the grazing and trampling of stock, or they are not able to send their roots far enough for them to obtain a fresh supply of elements, after they have been located some time in the pastures.

Thus the so-called perennial rye will bear feeding down for two, three, or four years, according to the seed or choice of soil and amount of stocking, and then will lose its normal chemical elements and get weaker and diseased until it will die out, and be replaced after a few years—more or less—according to circumstances, by Holcus lanatus, or by weeds, or if the ground is undrained when it dies out, rushes will take its place, or as it requires for its healthy growth lime and potash salts, sheep feeding it off constantly will gradually remove in their wool and bones these elements;

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it gets diseased and attacked with ergot (Puccinia uredo), etc., and will be replaced by other plants in its struggle for existence.

One other condition that must be noticed, and a very important one, is the period of rest during which the plant ceases to grow above ground, and either remains with only small growth in any part, or nearly quiescent, or in other species commences vigorous root action and extends under ground, this being regulated by the decreasing or increasing temperature, height of ground water, by which we understand the mean summer and winter water, level or height of moisture in the soil. The above and below soil changes of growth taking place in different grasses depending upon their species, original habitat, etc., at various seasons of the year in this island, either in the spring, summer, autumn, or winter, and all other things being equal, this growth above ground will determine at which season a grass is most to be depended upon by the graziers and farmers in this colony.

The Panicum spectabile, which will be growing vigorously from October to April, will die down in the winter and only maintain a weak root-action until spring, while the Bromus unioloides will grow as fast above ground in the winter as in spring, and not so rapidly during the summer and autumn. The Anthoxanthum odoratum grows all the winter, spring, and autumn, and is a good feeding grass during those seasons.

The Elymus condensatus grows fastest during the spring and autumn, continuing to grow, though less vigorously, in winter and summer.

The Stenotaphrum glabrum, so-called buffalo grass, and Cynodon dactylon or doob grass, grow best during the hottest and driest weather here, and whilst the Californian alfalfa with irrigation will make enormous growth during the summer, the Chilian alfalfa grows on also in the autumn and winter.

The Trifolium repens makes its principal growth in the spring; the Lolium perenne gets weaker after the first three or four years; while the Alopecurus pratensis becomes a much better grass in permanent pastures after this period; and although here on swamps and peat bogs many of the English pasture grasses will not thrive, the Agrostis stolonifera there grows well and is very fattening to cattle. The Poa aquatica and Festuca aquatica will thrive best by the sides of rivers, streams, and damp places, making there the best feeding grass; while the Elymus arenarius, and Paspalum littorale, and Achillea millefolium, and some others will grow on nearly pure sand and be then relished by stock, so much that some of my sheep selected the Elymus arenarius from many other grasses in preference to anything else.

The Dactylis cœspitosa is said by some authorities (but of this I cannot speak from personal experience at present) to grow best in swamps by the

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sea; and I know the Holcus lanatus will grow on most soils, however stiff or wet they may be, as well as the Plantago lanceolata.

The Cynosurus cristatus will make a permanent pasture for sheep on the driest and poorest gravelly downs, and be greatly assisted by the Pentzia virgata, or Cape-sheep bush; whilst the Onobrychis sativa will only grow profitably for feeding on soils containing a considerable proportion of lime; while upon lands shaded by wood or overgrown by trees several Poas will grow well, as will also the Panicum decompositum, Arundinella nepalensis, and other kinds. The white clover will grow and ripen its seed where bees and other insects can be found. In this colony, the red or Trifolium pratense finds very few insects capable of carrying pollen grain to fertilize it, as the humble bee that fertilizes it in England we have not here; yet sometimes I have had a patch of this clover with perfectly fertile seeds, and though I am not yet able to say positively what insects are the fertilizing agents, I am inclined at present to think it is the ant that does it—but I hope soon to learn more of this from test experiments now going on. And again, while many of the grasses and clovers will cease to fatten sheep and produce disease in them if they eat them when their young growth is first commencing in spring, Phleum pretense will stop the diarrhœa produced, and will continue to nourish and fatten them at a time when other grasses will not do as well; and this being a good autumnal grass, and very nourishing at other seasons, it should be more sown than it is at present. So well do the Canadian and North American farmers and graziers know its worth, that they sow it very largely, and often to the exclusion of the Loliums, for sheep and cattle pasture.

Another genus of grasses very valuable for permanent pasture are the fescues—Festuca gigantea, F. elatior, F. pratensis, F. rubra, F. duriuscula—and many others of these valuable grasses are in this climate growing vigorously, and yielding herbage in the winter when the so-called perennial rye is nearly dormant. These fescues, sending their roots deeply down, find elements to assist their healthy growth when other grasses are attacked by fungus and other diseases; and the instincts of sheep and cattle will cause them to crop these grasses in certain seasons instead of any others.

Among the red clovers for permanent pastures in this colony, none are better than the Trifolium pratense perenne, or cow-grass, as it not only continues to grow year after year when it has been sown, and produces a large amount of herbage, but it very frequently has its seeds fertile, and sows itself down if not too closely cropped in the autumn. In a small paddock in which I had it sown some years since with many other kinds of grasses, plants of it are to be found far distant from the place in which it was originally sown, and each year I observe an increasing quantity of plants.

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The Californian variety of lucerne or Californian alfalfa, which has during the past two years been much written upon in the various agricultural journals, is a very useful plant, as it will grow a very large and abundant crop of herbage either for fodder or making into hay, or for grazing upon with periods of rest between the grazings. It forms much larger roots than the other lucernes, and is in several other respects different; it is well worthy of culture by the graziers and farmers. The plan that I have pursued with it is to allow my cows or bullocks to feed upon it for two weeks, then take them out and place sheep on it for two weeks to eat it close to the ground; then remove them, and leave the alfalfa to grow for a month, and then follow this course again; and for the two weeks I allow five large cattle or twenty sheep to the acre. It requires to be grown in different enclosures to pursue this system, so that while the stock are feeding in one enclosure the other is at rest and able to grow again.

Another plant, called the prickly comfrey, has recently been recommended as a fodder or soiling plant. It was introduced into notice in 1811, and at that time recommended for fattening stock, but passed out of notice, and has since been revived. Of the several comfreys, Symphytum asperrimum is the one now most in favour. As soon as I noticed the renewal of interest in it, I ordered plants from France and elsewhere, and, having obtained them, have now placed them under test culture; but the time is too short to be able to give any details as to their worth or capabilities in this colony.

Agrostis argentea.—A perennial grass of great merit, grows vigorously through the spring, summer, and autumn, and part of the winter, yielding a fair proportion of nutritive herbage, seeding freely if allowed to do so. It is readily eaten by stock, holds its own amongst other grasses, and is a valuable grass with mixed permanent grasses on runs or pastures.

Anthistiria australis.—The seed of this widely-spread Australian grass I obtained from Tasmania, the seed came up late in the spring; it sent up seed-heads which were three-and-a-half feet in height. It was cut for seed about the latter end of December; it continued to grow during the summer and autumn, until the frosts of winter became severe, when it remained with only small growth during the remaining months, till spring weather started it into fresh growth, when it grew well, yielding much herbage to the stock grazing upon it. It possesses elements well fitted for the growth and development of sheep and cattle, and is a good grass for permanent pasture, but is better for not being too heavily stocked.

Avena argentea.—A permanent pasture grass growing an abundance of foliage during the autumn, winter, and spring, but somewhat less during the dry summer weather; it contains a large amount of nutritive and

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fattening material. It does not readily ripen fertile seeds but forms plenty of empty glumes. It is a good grass for permanent pasture.

Arundinella nepalensis.—This excellent summer grass commences its growth in the first warm spring weather, and continues to increase during the whole summer, forming in this climate a dense mat of foliage, which grows as fast as it is cut or eaten down, continuing its growth until the coldness of winter stops it. It is especially in this latitude a summer grass, but valuable for its rapid growth at that season, and thrives on high dry land.

Alkali grass of British Columbia.—A most valuable perennial hardy grass, grows well during the winter, spring, and autumn in this island, and is a very useful grass, well worth introduction into the permanent pastures here.

Agrostis rubra.—Procured from the United States, an excellent permanent grass, grows from early spring to a late period of the winter, sending up delicate, short, thick herbage, filling up spaces amongst other mixed grasses; spreads more by seeding than by its creeping stolons; in this differing from many others of its genus.

Andropogon annulatus.—This is here both a summer and autumn grass; it does not grow fast here during the winter, but at the period of its greatest growth sends up an abundance of herbage; it is an excellent pasture grass.

Chloris truncata.—A perennial grass of good quality for summer pasture, growing freely during the spring, summer, and autumn months; it does little during the winter here, so must be relied upon for its herbage during the hot, dry summer season, when the stock like it much. It fattens them, and if not too closely cropped down, it seeds and spreads freely.

Chloris divaricata.—This is here principally a summer grass, but grows very late into the autumn; it is useful at all seasons of the year, ripens its seed well and sows itself down, thus spreading and filling up vacant places.

Chloris ventricosa.—This like the preceding grass grows in the dry and hot weather, producing a fair quantity of feed which the stock are fond of, as they leave many others for them.

Dactylis glaucescens.—In appearance this grass much resembles the common cocksfoot or orchard grass except in its bluer colour. It also grows much later into the winter than the cocksfoot, and is a better grass for supplying winter feed; it also contains more starch and sugar elements in its foliage than the other species of that genus. It is a very useful grass for permanent pasture.

Eragrostis elegans.—Although an annual, is a useful grass for those who only want a grass of this character, as it sends up an abundant nutritious herbage through the spring, summer, and autumn.

Helopus annulatus.—This is a very excellent and fattening grass; grows

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all summer during the driest weather, much relished by the stock, and a very desirable grass for permanent pasture, bears a great quantity of seed, and as it lays many of its stems along the ground that escape the grazing of the stock, it thus increases and spreads. It is very nutritious and fattening, and well worthy of a place in pastures.

Panicum decompositum.—A fast-growing abundant grass, grows well under trees, forms a thick sole, and during summer is a rapidly increasing plant, able to ripen seed in large quantities through all the autumn: grows from spring to late autumn.

Panicum orizynum.—A quick-growing grass, much to be recommended if quite closely kept fed down, but it must not be allowed to form seed-heads, as the long awns upon its seed might injure the cattle; if closely cropped would be very useful, as its abundant leaves contain a large amount of nutritive elements.

Pennisetum italicum.—This, although an annual, will be found very useful by the farmer for one of the grasses for a rotation crop; it bears an abundance of very fattening foliage, which is three feet high; it forms large bunches of leaves and tall seed-stems, and is greedily eaten by cattle and other stock, quickly making them fat.

Pennisetum glaucum.—Is also an annual, and distinguished from the preceding by its glaucous colour, taller herbage, and later growth; in the season of its greatest vigour it is a very fattening grass, and should be sown by farmers and others who only require an annual grass; it may be fed down very closely, quickly growing up again.

Paspalum distichum.—A useful grass to sow in damp places or along the banks of water-courses. It yields an abundance of nutritious herbage during the warm weather that stock much approve of. It is a very superior grass, and should be widely sown in permanent pasture, more especially on damp lands or swampy meadows.

Paspalum littorale.—A very good grass for sandy lands along the sea coast, and is there one of the best feeding grasses.

Paspalum dilatatum.—A valuable perennial pasture grass, as it yields an abundance of herbage, it fattens stock quickly as they are fond of it; it holds its place so well amongst mixed grasses that it ought to be generally sown in permanent pasture.

The preceding are a few grasses and fodder plants selected from my notes upon many hundreds of such plants as I have introduced, acclimatized, and experimented with during the past eighteen years, and although there is a great temptation to add largely to the number above described, yet a fear of wearying the members of the Philosophical Society, by adding many others to the list upon this occasion, causes me to limit the number to those above

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mentioned, for although I feel the greatest interest in procuring, acclimatizing, cultivating, experimenting with, and testing all obtainable grasses, fodder plants, all kinds of edible plants, fruits of every kind, timber and other trees, in fact, every kind of economic and useful plant, yet to others who are not so enthusiastic, a very long list and description of grasses and fodder plants at one sitting would only be tiresome. Yet to the farmers and graziers the subject of adding more to the present grasses and plants those that will increase the feeding and fattening powers of their lands, must be one of importance, and it would be almost impossible for many of them to obtain from various parts of the world the many hundreds of grasses and test them for themselves.

As the Government of this colony have not thought it desirable to have an acclimatization ground or botanic garden, in which a proper set of experiments could be carried out upon the grasses and other economic plants, it has been left to private persons to introduce and experiment upon these plants. We have to procure them at considerable risk and cost from the various nursery and seedsmen in Europe, America, and elsewhere, or obtain them from friends engaged in similar pursuits, and had it not been for the kindness of Baron von Mueller, Dr. Schomburgh, Mr. Bacchus, Mr. Way, Mr. Phillips, and other botanists and experimentalists, it would have been almost impossible to have obtained many of the very valuable Australian grass seeds and test them here. The same remark applies to European and Asiatic plants and seeds, as the nursery and seedsmen cannot or will not execute the orders sent, the seeds often not being in their stock for sale.

The time of the Society will not be therefore, I trust, altogether wasted in listening to a description of some of the grasses which have proved themselves to be very useful for what they are recommended, as adding to the number of feeding plants for the live stock of this colony will not only be of advantage to the farmers and graziers, but to the general prosperity of colonists, and all connected with this country who may be concerned in the growth and development of the trade in wool, meat, and other produce of the sheep and cattle here pastured.

Art. XL VII.—Notes on the Fertilization of Glossostigma.

By T. F. Cheeseman, F.L.S.

[Read before the Auckland Institute, 28th May, 1877.]

The remarkable sensitiveness of the upper part of the style of Glossostigma elatinoides does not appear to have been previously noticed. As the facts of the case, though simple enough, are yet peculiar, and may perhaps possess

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some little interest for those naturalists engaged in the study of the varied modes of fertilization in use among plants, I have drawn up the following notes on the subject.

Glossostigma elatinoides is a small, creeping, intricately branched mosslike plant, generally found in wet swamps, or by the margins of lakes and ponds, often growing entirely submerged. The flowers, which are axillary on short peduncles, are very minute, hardly exceeding ⅛ inch in diameter. The corolla has a short tube and five nearly equal spreading lobes; the two upper, however, are rather smaller and more closely united than the lower. The margins of all the lobes are fringed with numerous minute ciliæ, and the cellular tissue throughout is unusually lax. The stamens are four in number, two long and two short, the anthers being approximated in pairs, one above the other, as in so many of the Scrophularineœ. The style is about the same length as the corolla. At the base it is nearly cylindrical, and very slender, but above the middle it expands into a broad and thin spoon-shaped lamina, the anterior surface of which is quite smooth and plane, but the back covered with delicate clavate papillæ pointing upwards towards the summit of the style.

On examining a recently expanded flower, it will be observed that the broad end of the style is abruptly doubled over towards the front of the flower, thus covering the stamens and entirely concealing them from view. If the point of a needle, or stiff bristle, be inserted into the corolla, and the front of the stigma lightly touched, it at once springs up and uncovers the stamens, moving back to the upper lip of the flower, to which it becomes so closely applied that it is difficult to distinguish it from the corolla without the use of a lens. After a short time the style gradually moves inwards, and ultimately bends over the stamens as at first. With the view of ascertaining the time which elapses before the stigma resumes its normal position, I made the following experiment. At 9 a.m. I touched the stigmas of seven flowers, causing them to uncover the stamens and occupy their position at the back of the flower. At 9.12 one of the styles had commenced to move inwards; at 9.15 all had advanced a considerable distance; at 9.20 five out of the seven covered the anthers as closely as at first; at 9.25 the whole of the seven had resumed their original position. Further experiment also showed that the stigmas may be repeatedly touched, but always retain their sensitiveness until the flower commences to wither.

It cannot be doubted that this irritability of the style is connected with the fertilization of the plant—in fact, that it is solely a contrivance to secure cross-fertilization possibly so arranged that if the flower is not visited by insects self-fertilization is not prevented. Let an insect crawl into the flower, or let a larger one insert its proboscis; it would be difficult for either

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to avoid touching the upper part of the style, which would then move back and expose the anthers. On retiring, the insect would in all probability dust itself over with pollen, but it would not by this effect the fertilization of the flower, as the stigma would then be closely applied to the upper lip of the corolla,—entirely out of its path. But let the same insect visit a second flower, and it is then every way likely that some of the pollen would be rubbed off by the stigma, which as we have seen, would be naturally touched on the first entrance of an insect. I have not been able to systematically watch the flowers so as to ascertain what species are instrumental in transferring the pollen, but I have twice observed small Diptera engaged in sucking the flowers. Several of these I caught, and found grains of pollen on the foreheads of some of them. The common red ant is often found crawling over the plant, and I have seen one emerge from a flower with the front of its head thickly covered with yellow pollen, thus proving that this species may play no unimportant part in the fertilization of the plant. Their visits would not, however, be so beneficial as those of winged insects, which would be more likely to bring pollen from distinct plants, and thus effect a more advantageous cross.

Late in autumn the plants are usually covered with capsules, so that, if fertilization is chiefly performed by insects, they certainly fulfil their duties in an effectual manner. In old flowers that have been seldom visited it often happens that pollen drops from the anther-cells on to the face of the style bent down just below; and I perhaps too hastily concluded that self-fertilization would thus inevitably take place if from any reason the flowers were not visited by insects. I did not, until almost too late in the season, pay sufficient attention to the difference existing between the two surfaces of the expanded portion of the style; and I am now inclined to believe that only one is stigmatiferous—the posterior one, or that turned to the back of the flower when the style is erect, and to the front when it is curved over the stamens. Certainly this surface alone possesses well-developed stigmatic papillæ, and on it alone have I been able to observe the development and intrusion of the pollen-tubes. If this view is correct, self-fertilization would be almost, if not altogether, impossible.

The movements of the style in Glossostigma form the most curious example of irritability in the female reproductive organs of plants that I am acquainted with, excepting that produced by a slight touch on the gynostemium of Stylidium. The closing together of the two arms of the style in Mimulus and allied genera is analogous; but in the case of these plants the movement is rarely through a greater angle than 60° or 7°, and is usually much less; while in Glossostigma the point of the style moves through an arc of at least 180°. On referring to the description given by

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Mr. Bentham in his “Flora Australiensis” of Peplidium and Microcarpœa, two genera closely allied to Glossostigma, I find that the style is described as “short, dilated into a broad spathulate lamina curved over the stamens,” being almost the same language made use of in describing the pistil of Glossostigma. It would be interesting to know whether these two genera possess the singular irritability now noticed.

Art. XL VIII.—Description of a new Species of Polypodium.

By T. F. Cheeseman, F.L.S.

[Read before the Auckland Institute, 19th November, 1877.]

During an excursion made in January last for the purpose of examining the vegetation of the district between the Waipa River and Raglan, I was greatly interested by collecting an evidently undescribed species of Polypodium at an altitude of about 2,000 feet on the Pirongia Mountain. A few days later, the same plant was gathered on the summit of the isolated mountain Karioi, between Raglan and Aotea. As in all probability it will be found that the species extends from these two localities southwards through the little known Upper Waipa and Mokau districts, and perhaps even still further south, I have thought it advisable to draw up a brief account of its distinguishing characters in order that the attention of collectors in other parts of the colony may be directed to it. I will not, however, confer a name upon the species, as this may have been already done in England, specimens having been forwarded to Kew immediately after its discovery.

Polypodium (Phymatodes), sp. nov.

Rhizome stout, woody, as thick as the fore-finger, densely clothed with large tawny ovate-lanceolate spreading scales. Stipes 6–12 inches long, quite glabrous, erect, smooth, and glossy. Frond dark green, 1–2 feet in length, 8–12 inches broad, in the upper part cut, down to within a short distance of the rachis, into numerous linear acuminate entire lobes; subpinnate below. Lobes varying in number from 5–14 on a side, 4–8 inches long, usually about ½ inch wide, lower ones often narrowed towards their bases. In large specimens it often happens that the lower lobes are free to the main rachis, so that the frond might be described as pinnate in the lower half. Texture sub-coriaceous, or sometimes almost papyraceous; both sides quite glabrous; main veins indistinct, areolæ rather large, with included free veinlets. Sori rather small, in a single row, nearer the margin than the midrib, slightly immersed.

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Hab. Pirongia Mountain, not uncommon above 2,200 feet alt.; Karioi Mountain, near the summit of the highest peaks, alt. 2,300 feet.

From the above description it will be seen that the species is closely allied to the variable and widely distributed P. billardieri, but from all the forms of this plant it can readily be distinguished by the rhizome being densely clothed with shaggy spreading scales entirely different in appearance from the closely appressed squamæ with which the rhizome of P. billardieri is furnished. It is also a larger plant, the fronds being often over 2 feet in height; the lobes are far more numerous and much narrower; the venation is more indistinct, the texture thinner, and the sori smaller. In addition, I failed to observe any tendency to the polymorphism of the fronds so well marked in both P. billardieri and its near ally P. pustulatum. All the plants seen had their fronds uniformly lobed in a pinnate manner as described above, and simple-fronded specimens could not be found. I should perhaps mention that the ordinary forms of P. billardieri and P. pustulatum were abundant in the same locality; indeed, the three plants could be seen growing side by side.

Note.—22nd December, 1877. Since writing the above I have been informed that a new Polypodium has been recently discovered by Mr. H. C. Field in the forest country to the west of Ruapehu. Not having seen specimens I am unable to state positively that Mr. Field's plant is the same as mine, but from the description given to me I have but little doubt that the two are identical.

Art. XLIX.—Note on a branched Nikau Tree.

By S. Percy Smith.

Plate XV.

[Read before the Auckland Institute, 22nd October, 1877.]

The following short note has reference to a nikau palm, which in its manner of growth presents some features of an abnormal character. It was discovered by one of the survey parties growing in the forests at the base of the Tangihua Mountains, Whangarei, and it was on a late visit to that district that I had an opportunity of seeing this vegetable curiosity.

Most people are acquainted with the ordinary nikau palm (Areca sapida) of New Zealand, with its smooth cylindrical stem encircled with equal rings of annual growth, and surmounted with a luxuriant crown of wide-spreading leaves. The stem is nearly always quite straight without branch or knot or bend in it to spoil its symmetry. The subject of this note, however, has eleven separate and distinct branches growing from one parent stem, most

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of which separate from the main trunk at about five feet from the ground and after rising some ten feet higher some of them divide again into other branches.

The tree itself is about nine inches in diameter at the ground, and about six inches just before it divides, the branches being from three to four inches each in diameter. The total height of the tree is about thirty feet, and each branch is crowned with a fine head of luxuriant leaves, forming altogether a most beautiful object. The forest around contains hundreds of ordinary nikaus with single stems, but none with any sign of branches. There was no fruit on the tree, though others in the vicinity were in bearing; this may not, however, be owing to any barrenness in it, for it is stated that the palms do not bear seed every year. It would be rather interesting to ascertain whether the seeds of this particular tree would produce branched offspring like itself.

Since seeing this tree I have made inquiries of several old bushmen and others with a view of eliciting whether they had ever seen or heard of the like before, and with one exception have been answered in the negative. In this case my informant stated that he had seen a deformed specimen which had divided into two branches—the cause of which he attributed to accident—such as the falling of a tree into its head, by which it would become divided but still have sufficient vitality to recover the blow. I do not attempt to assign any cause why this tree differs from its fellows, but simply bring the matter before the Society as an example of a marked deviation from a general form of vegetable life. The accompanying sketch (pl. XV.), copied from a rough one taken on the ground, will give a much better idea of the tree than any description I can give.

Art. L.—Notes on Ferns.

By T. H. Potts.

[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 6th December, 1877.]

The writer offers a few notes on the habits and localities of some of our ferns, trusting they may be of some interest, as habitats are given not mentioned in “Hooker's Handbook.” One cannot fail to notice the great changes that are daily taking place in the natural aspect of the country. More especially is this the case in forest lands, where a vast amount of timber has been used up or destroyed within the past ten years. Ten years ago is about the date of Dr. Hooker's most valuable Handbook of the New Zealand Flora. In that work of reference, “abundant throughout the islands” is a constantly-recurring phrase as applied to ferns. This

Picture icon

Branched Nikau Palm.

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expression would be found no longer applicable in many parts of the country.

Alsophila colensoi, Hook.

Perhaps the hardiest of our tree-fern group, it may be found in mountainous districts, sometimes in very exposed places on the outskirts of bush, at an altitude of from 2,000 feet to 3,000 feet. Trunk often absent or prostrate, exposed or covered with soil, from two to four feet long. Where fronds have been exposed to the rigour of severe winters, they assume a rich cinnamon hue. Malvern Hills; near mountain tops on Banks Peninsula.

Hymenophyllum bivalve, Swartz.

On rocks or trees, in thick masses in bushy gullies, west of Mount Somers; also plentiful on Banks Peninsula.

Hymenophyllum javanicum, Spreng.

This filmy fern flourishes near waterfalls, often in a bed of moss together with Polypodium grammitidis. Its habit is tufted, more so than is usually the case with Hymenophyllaceœ. In rocky gullies near the Rakaia Gorge; also westerly as far as the Havelock River, at about 2,200 feet above the sea.

Hymenophyllum malingii, Mett.

One of the nearest habitats of this very peculiar fern is amongst the ranges of Banks Peninsula. As, under our present system of the administration of lands, the peninsula forests will probably be exterminated at no distant date, perhaps the following notes may be worth recording.

This fern usually occupies a dry place on a decaying limb or trunk of a tree, at a distance of several feet from the ground. We have found it on Podocarpus totara, Libocedrus doniana, etc., etc. From the similarity of its varying tints and shades of greens, greys, and browns, it may be easily mistaken for a patch of lichens. We have not met with it carrying its fronds erect, as described in Hooker's “Handbook.” Its pendent fronds form thick imbricated masses; its thick woolly tomentum enables it to catch and retain moisture gathered from mountain fogs and mists; its rough rhizome creeps amongst and through the ragged strips of soft bark, and even penetrates the bark itself. The young frond, where it shoots from the rhizome, has at the swollen base of the stipe a dense patch of hair or scales; the stipe itself is sparsely sprinkled with pale brown hairs. Just below the rachis the tomentum is dense, as it is indeed over every part of the frond. The growing frond soon loses its crozier state, uncurling into a lunate form; colour buffish, changing to greyish-green with a silvery glint; the terminal divisions with the sori orange-brown. Some of the lower pinnæ are darkish-green above, reddish-brown beneath. With the

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aid of a good glass, the stellate tomentum that so closely envelopes this singular plant presents a most curious and interesting appearance. We have collected this Hymenophyllum in the bush above Port Levy and Pigeon Bay, sometimes growing in company with a small form of H. bivalve.

Rhizome slender, creeping, rough, fulvous, with a few scattered tawny scales, or hairy. Stipe, base gibbous, tomentose, long, slender, 2–3 inches long; upper portion immediately below the rachis densely tomentose. Fronds pendent, narrow-oblong, 2–6 inches long, 1–1.½ inches broad, bi- tri- or quadripinnatifid; covered above and beneath with a close tomentum; upper surface greyish-green to buff, dull reddish-brown beneath. Divisions long, narrow, almost terete; sori terminal on the segments, clothed with shaggy hairs, rather dark buffish-brown; the whole frond coriaceous, stiff, rather harsh to the touch.

In the “Synopsis Filicum” it is placed next to a South American fern, H. sericum, with which it is said to be closely connected. In Hooker's “Handbook of the New Zealand Flora” it was grouped with Trichomanes.

Trichomanes venosum, Br.

On the rhizome of Todea hymenophylloides; on the stems of tree-ferns, such as Hemitelia smithii, Dicksonia squarrosa; in the bushes of Banks Peninsula, including the Port Hills.

Cystopteris fragilis, Bern.

On grassy terraces near the gorge of the Rakaia river; in Mount Guy valley in the Upper Ashburton district; River Havelock, Upper Rangitata; on the lower spurs of Mount Herbert, Banks Peninsula. Altitude of habitat varying from 500 feet to about 2,500 feet.

Adiantum diaphanum, Blume (?).

In the gorge of the Rakaia river the writer collected an Adiantum which is probably A. diaphanum. It differs somewhat from the diagnosis given in Hooker's and Baker's “Synopsis Filicum.” Should it prove to be A. diaphanum, this subalpine habitat is worth recording. The rock from whence it was taken is about 900 feet above sea-level. Stipe slender, polished, blackish, 3–4 inches long. Frond—4-6 inches long, 1–1.½ inches broad; simply pinnate, rarely with one feeble branch at the base; pinnules ½-1 inch broad, ¼-¾ inch deep; lower margin decurved; upper and outer line cuneate, texture thin, surface on both sides naked. Sori few, not contiguous.

Pellœa falcata, Br.

Amongst dry rocks, in bushy ravines, on slopes of Dun Mountain, Nelson.

Lomaria duplicata, Potts.

On referring specimens of this fern to the authorities at Kew, it was

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judged to be a variety of L. procera. A plant the writer has under cultivation has nine fronds (barren and fertile) exhibiting the peculiar habit from which it was named.

L. patersoni, Spreng.

Near springs or rills in gullies and outskirts of bush on Banks Peninsula; in similar positions in the Malvern Hills it may be found growing in the greatest luxuriance, fronds giving a measurement of above 3 feet in length.

Asplenium trichomanes, Linn.

In crevices of rocks in the gorge of the Ashburton river, on the lower spurs of Mount Herbert.

A. flabellifolium, Cavan.

The finest form of this elegant fern that has fallen under the writer's notice was obtained amongst sheltering rocks in the dry bays of Lake Ellesmere.

A. falcatum, Lam.

Fine specimens on Podocarpus spicata, near Akaroa.

Aspidium aculeatum, Swartz.

Often found growing as a parasite, most frequently on aged specimens of Griselinia littoralis (broadleaf) in the bush, lying high on Banks Peninsula.

Gymnogramma leptophylla, Desv.

Abundant about the rocks in Port Cooper up to the head of the harbour. This delicate fern can be cultivated with little trouble; it is produced freely wherever the seed has been permitted to ripen; in crevices amongst moist rocks or stones it soon becomes established.

Gymnogramme alpina, sp. nov.

Rhizome dark brown, stout, ascending, clothed with brown scales. Fronds silvery-green above, oblong, narrow, 1–3 inches long, half inch broad; pinnate, densely villous, soft, thick in substance. Stipe silverygreen or brownish, tufted, stout or slender, densely villous. Pinnæ petioled, except the last three, in pairs or alternate, deltoid or cuneate, with two or three blunt irregular-shaped lobes, both sides densely villous, veins flabellate; sori ovate, numerous, covering a large portion of the under-surface of pinnæ.

A hardy perennial, growing in crevices of rocks on steep facings of the Southern Alps at an elevation of some 3,000 feet. In this habitat it withstands the rigours of winter, the severity of which is quite unknown to the dwellers near the coast. It is probably the most densely villous of all the New Zealand Filices; in its soft woolly texture and silvery-grey colours it bears close resemblance to several plants of our alpine flora. Compared with G.

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pozoi, it lacks the membranous texture of that rare fern, the fronds are crowded, the pinnæ far less distant; the writer names it provisionally G. alpina, as appropriate from its habitat.

It was collected by Mr. Gray in the Upper Ashburton district.

Nothochlœna distans, Br.

In the Handbook the habitat of this deciduous fern is not particularized further than North Island, on basaltic rocks, on the authority of Colenso. The writer has obtained it in abundance on the cliffs and rocks about Port Cooper; on the rocks that wall in the creek in Church Bay it is plentiful, growing in close proximity to the much admired Cheilanthes.

Art. LI.—On the Naturalized Plants of Port Nicholson and the adjacent District.

By T. Kirk, F.L.S.

[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 12th January, 1878.]

One of the most interesting branches of scientific investigation is the displacement or replacement of plants and animals which we know is now in progress over nearly all parts of the earth's surface. In islands and continents where man has not taken up his permanent abode, the process is slow but none the less certain; seeds of plants from other latitudes, wafted by the waves, germinate on the shore, and finding a suitable habitat, are gradually diffused through the interior; other seeds, or possibly fragments of plants themselves, are borne by birds, even by insects, or in some rare cases carried by winds; seeds of plants from more distant regions may be accidentally thrown overboard from passing ships, or the sailor landing to inter his dead shipmate, leaves behind him the northern chickweed, or the broad-leaved plantain, which so habitually follows the track of the pioneers of civilization that the North American Indians have poetically termed it the “footstep of the whites.” It is easy to realize how by these and similar noiseless agencies, material changes may be produced in the aspect of the flora of an uninhabited country in the course of centuries. But with the advent of man other forces acting in the same direction are brought into operation partly by design and partly by accident, so that for a time these changes are accelerated in a constantly increasing ratio, and the work of centuries is compressed into a decade. The forest is destroyed, the vegetation of the plain is changed, or at least so intermixed with exotic plants that its aspect is entirely new. Foreign weedy plants spread through the land, destroying by their superior vigour much of the original vegetation. In more distant situations sheep and cattle feeding closely upon the herbs, or on the tender shoots of shrubs,

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speedily destroy the undergrowth, admitting the light and air. These in their turn act unfavourably on the larger vegetation which has attained its growth in a dark damp atmosphere, and the injurious agency gradually extends over a constantly widening area. But in this colony it rarely happens that the process of displacement passes into complete replacement; it rarely or never results in the extirpation of indigenous species, although it greatly reduces the number of individuals. The admission of air and light, while unfavourable to certain plants, tends to increase the vigour of others, which exhibit a luxuriant growth they had never before displayed, and at length a turning-point is reached, the invaders lose a portion of their vigour and become less encroaching, while the indigenous plants find the struggle less severe and gradually recover a portion of their lost ground, the result being the gradual amalgamation of those kinds best adapted to hold their own in the struggle for existence with the introduced forms, and the restriction of those less favourably adapted to habitats which afford them special advantages. This, in brief, is a statement of the phenomena now in progress throughout the colony; but at present we are not in a position fully to appreciate several of its bearings.

It can scarcely be expected that those who were familiar with the general features of the vegetation of New Zealand before they were modified or changed by the progress of settlement will at once accept the statement I have given as correct. They have witnessed the steady onset of axe and fire, the unceasing advance of cattle and sheep, and they have been so impressed with the almost total extinction of many striking plants over areas where they were formerly abundant, as to have lost sight of the tenacity with which plants in general maintain their existence even under unfavourable conditions, of the surprising power of adaptation which they often exhibit under changed circumstances, and are led to the conclusion that sooner or later the majority of our native plants must inevitably become extinct. I can only share in this fear to a limited extent, and could almost count upon my fingers the particular plants for which such a danger is most to be feared. In no part of the world has agriculture been carried to a higher pitch of perfection than in the British Islands; in no part have the open lands been more completely brought under cultivation; yet we know that under these adverse circumstances not more than two or three species, at most, have become extinct, although many have become extremely rare, and only maintain themselves in situations offering peculiar advantages. The Killarney fern, Trichomanes radicans, Sw., has often been reported as extinct, yet scarcely a year passes without some new station being discovered, or some of the old stations proving reproductive. Asplenium

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germanicum, Weiss, affords another instance of the tenacity with which plants maintain their existence under the most unfavourable conditions. Adiantum capillus-veneris, L., Woodsia ilvensis, Br., W. hyperborea, Br., Nephrodium cristatum, Rich., are similar examples. Not only have the plants here named to endure the changed conditions brought about by agricultural and pastoral occupations, but they have suffered largely from the ravages of vulgar curiosity-hunters, who value a thing only for its rarity, and sometimes strive to render the habitat of a rare plant unproductive, in order to enhance the value of the specimens in their possession; and from the mania for fern-collecting, which for years past has been a fashionable pursuit in Britain, as well as from the more legitimate but far less destructive indents of botanists, they may therefore be taken as extreme cases.

Numerous flowering plants exemplifying the same tenacity of existence under unfavourable conditions, and the power of adapting themselves to changed circumstances, might be named, but I will only state that during a detailed examination of the flora of the Auckland Isthmus and North Shore, extending over ten years, I failed to obtain the slightest evidence that a single species had become extinct, yet the district sustains a population of about 25,000 souls, on an area of 43,000 acres, less than half the extent of many sheep runs in the South Island. It is one of the oldest settled districts in the colony, and agriculture is in a more advanced state than in many other places; the only remains of forest are the few small patches of bush at the mouths of gullies between Takapuna and Lucas Creek, all traversed by cattle, while the open lands not actually under cultivation have been subjected to repeated burnings. Yet under these unfavourable conditions this small area, no part of which is above 650 feet in altitude, contains 440 species of phænogamic plants and ferns, representing 78 natural orders out of 91 under which these plants are arranged thoughout the colony, and giving an average of six species to the square mile. Moreover, this area is shared by 300 naturalized species, of which nearly two-thirds are as much at home as the natives of the soil. It is needless to offer further statements in support of my conclusion.

This paper is intended simply as a contribution to our knowledge of the distribution of naturalized plants in the colony and comprises an enumeration of the species observed by the writer in the Wellington district, with a few others for which the authority is stated in each case. It must not, however, be taken as exhaustive, since, without doubt, the list would be considerably increased by a careful examination of the more distant parts of the Wairarapa, the Upper Rangitikei, the country between Marton and Wanganui, and between Wanganui and the southern boundary of Taranaki, with all of which I am personally unacquainted.

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In a future paper I purpose discussing in detail the position of naturalized plants with regard to the indigenous flora and their general effect on the progress of the colony, but for the present confine myself to a few remarks on certain species which exhibit features of special interest in this district.

I may, however, point out that the gradual decrease in the number of species as we travel southwards, which to a certain extent characterizes the indigenous flora, is exhibited also by our naturalized flora. Comparing the naturalized plants of this district with those of Auckland, we find the proportion to be less than 1.25 to 2, Auckland having fully 400 naturalized species, Wellington under 250. Making a fair estimate for the number of species yet to be collected in the unvisited portions of this district, it can scarcely be expected that the total will exceed 300; and' it may be added that the decrease is more strongly marked as we go further south.

It does not appear that this increasing paucity of species is solely due to a lower temperature. The peach ripens its fruit as thoroughly about Wellington as in any part of Auckland; yet while a constant succession of young trees is produced in the northern district, they are so few about Wellington that, except in peculiarly favourable situations, the plant does not increase when left to itself. The potato exhibits the same difference in a still higher degree: it would stand a much better chance of becoming permanently naturalized in Auckland than in Wellington; while the fig, which never flourishes here except under cultivation, in Auckland, even when utterly neglected, holds its ground and increases by suckers, although rarely by seeds, which in all probability are seldom formed owing to the absence of insects capable of effecting its fertilization. Similar remarks apply to the vine, the Cape gooseberry, and other garden plants, whether producing edible fruits or otherwise; but, on the other hand, the Kentish cherry and garden gooseberry increase with great rapidity when left undisturbed—the cherry both by suckers and seeds, the gooseberry by seeds and the rooting of the lower branches—so that a single wild plant sometimes forms a bush several feet in diameter.

Ranunculus repens, L.

Abundant in wet places, ditches, etc.; more plentiful than in any other part of the colony.

R. parviflorus, L.

This species is becoming injurious in fields and cultivations, from its great abundance and densely tufted habit, which is quite unknown in Europe. It must not be confounded with the var. australis, which is indigenous.

Glaucium luteum, L.

Widely diffused on shingly beaches, and from its remarkable habit

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producing a singular effect, quite unlike that of any native plants. I am indebted to Dr. Hector for information as to its introduction.

Matthiola sinuata, Br.

A welcome addition to our naturalized plants, but confined to the remarkable locality of Castle Rock, on the steep faces of which it is plentiful enough. Its establishment in this singular habitat can only be accounted for on the supposition of its having been sown.

Lepidium ruderale, L.

This Crucifer appears to be spreading through all temperate regions; sheep and cattle are evidently the chief agents in its diffusion, although its minute seeds are often carried great distances by the wind. It is especially abundant about sheep camps in the Wairarapa and other districts.

Raphanus sativus, L.

Most travellers by the Hutt road must have noticed the profusion of the garden radish on soil disturbed during the construction of the railway. In all probability it will gradually diminish in quantity, although at present it maintains its ground.

Lychnis coronaria, L.

The white leaves and bright red flowers of this plant produce a singular effect in localities where it is abundant, as in Porirua Valley, etc., etc.

Silene noctiflora, L.

This plant appears to be confined to the locality mentioned, where, however, it is tolerably plentiful, and has apparently been established for some years. I am quite at a loss to account for its introduction.

Hypericum androsœmum, L.

Unusually abundant at Ohariu, and flourishing with the greatest luxuriance on the borders of forest to which cattle have access.

Conium maculatum, L.

This deadly plant was more plentiful about Wellington three or four years ago than it is at the present time. Its extension has been greatly restricted by building operations.

Rosa rubiginosa, L.

The sweet-briar spreads with remarkable rapidity, occasionally forming dense thickets and causing much trouble in pastoral lands. Its fruit is eaten by horses and birds, and many of the seeds escape injury during the process of digestion, probably owing to their hairy covering preventing the action of the gastric juice.

Dipsacus sylvestris, L.

In great abundance in the Porirua Valley, where its striking habit affords a marked contrast to surrounding plants. It has not been observed in any other district.

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Carduus marianus, Gærtn.

From its great abundance and imposing aspect, the “blessed thistle” is perhaps the most characteristic of the naturalized plants of Wellington. The loose nature of the soil of the hill-sides is highly favourable to the germination of its seeds, so that the plant spreads with great rapidity, forming in the spring large broad masses of bold green foliage with milk-white veins; these are succeeded by its great branched stems three to five feet in height, terminated by the large flower-heads with their recurved involucral spines and purple florets. Its autumn state of ragged decay is less pleasant to contemplate, and the winter winds and rains gradually accumulate fragments of dead stems in large quantities which do not finally disappear for some months.

In Auckland, where a dense sward of grass is soon formed, single specimens of this plant have been known for the past fifteen years; but, although they seeded freely, the seeds had no opportunity of germinating, so that the thistle did not spread. A remarkable exception to this rule occurred during the formation of the Onehunga railway, where a few seeds fell on disturbed soil, grew up and flowered. The railway works being suspended, the plant increased rapidly, and spread wherever it could find disturbed soil. It would be interesting to learn whether it is still able to maintain itself in the locality.

Cryptostemma calendulacea, Br.

The Cape weed, which is plentiful in Auckland, is with us confined to the vicinity of Wanganui, where it is spreading rapidly.

Xanthium spinosum, L.

This (from a wool-grower's point of view) unwelcome intruder is apparently confined to the single locality named in the list, but may be expected to occur not unfrequently in the Wanganui and Patea districts, It is the “Bathurst burr” of the Australian colonists. It is worth while to remark that although this plant has been known in Auckland for the last fourteen or fifteen years, it has done little more than maintain its existence, and can scarcely be said to be injurious. The evils anticipated when it was first observed have not been realized in the slightest degree.

Verbascum thapsus, L.

The “hag taper” is more abundant in this vicinity than elsewhere, doubtless from the same cause that conduces so largely to the spread of the “blessed thistle.” Its peculiar habit and woolly leaves afford a marked and not unwelcome contrast to the surrounding vegetation.

Verbena officinalis, L.

This ancient “plant of power” exhibits a luxuriance and profusion altogether unknown in Europe, and, from its usurping the place of nutritious grasses in several localities, is causing direct injury.

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Rumex pulcher, L.

The fiddle-dock occurs in great abundance on the formation of new streets, etc., especially in the Te Aro side of the city, but soon becomes comparatively rare. It seems probable that it was one of the earliest plants naturalized here, but that it partially died out, its buried seeds retaining their vitality.

Sisyrinchium chilense, Hook.

A pleasing addition to our naturalized flora, abundant on the hills about Wellington and other places. Apparently restricted to this district.

Iris pseudacorus, L.

The yellow flag or French lily is another welcome addition, probably planted in a tributary of the Waiwetu.

Agrostis alba, L., β. stolonifera.

Fiorin grass: a useful addition to our naturalized economic plants, from its affording a supply of herbage early and late in the season on cold clay soils.

Glyceria fluitans, Br.

A valuable grass spreading rapidly in wet places, and affording a large supply of nutritious herbage, especially grateful to horses. The seeds form a large part of the food of the trout in Europe, and in seasons of scarcity have been ground and made into bread.

Briza maxima, L.

An elegant grass abundantly naturalized on the hills about Wellington, but of trivial economic value. Dr. Curl, to my great surprise, advocates its cultivation, but its brief period of duration completely deprives it of value to the agriculturist.

This and the two preceding species are more abundant about Wellington than in any other locality in the colony.

Lepturus, sp.

A remarkable plant naturalized on shingly beaches, and distinguished by its flattened rachis. I have not been able to identify it with any species of which I possess descriptions, but can hardly doubt its being of exotic origin.

Anthistiria australis, Br.

In 1874 I observed the kangaroo grass growing on sandy soil in the Lower Rangitikei, and subsequently ascertained that it had been sown in the vicinity some years before, and was supposed to have died out; recently it was pointed out to me on Mount Victoria by one of the students of Wellington College. It is a valuable and nutritious grass, but cannot be expected to maintain its ground unless allowed to seed freely.

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Catalogue of Naturalized Plants

Observed in the Vicinity of Port Nicholson and other Localities in the Wellington Provincial District.

Nots.—Those species not observed elsewhere in New Zealand are distinguished by an asterisk.

Ranunculaceæ.

Ranunculus sceleratus, L. An anonymous writer in the “Educational Gazette,” vol. I., p. 83, states that this species is found on the Porirua road. I have not seen Wellington specimens.

acris, L. Kaiwarawara, etc.

repens, L. Common in most places.

bulbosus, L. Kaiwarawara.

*hirsutus, Curtis. Old Porirua road—“Educational Gazette,” I., p. 83, anonymous; R. bulbosus, L., is probably mistaken for this species, which I have not seen in the colony.

parviflorus, L. The typical form is common about Wellington, Otaki, Hutt Valley, Wairarapa, etc.; it is easily distinguished from R. australis, Br., by its comparatively robust habit.

muricatus, L. Specimens supposed to have been collected near Wellington are in the herbarium of the Colonial Museum.

*philonotis, Retz. Evans Bay, Hutt Valley, Otaki.

* Aquilegia vulgaris, L. Ohariu; a garden outcast.

Papaveraceæ.

* Glaucium luteum, L. Shingly shores of Port Nicholson; Lyall Bay; Island Bay; Makara; East Coast to Cape Palliser; supposed to have been introduced in the packing material of the patent slip machinery.

Eschscholtzia californica, Cham. By the sea, near Castle Point.

Fumariaceæ.

Fumaria muralis, Sonder. Common in cultivated land about Wellington; Wairarapa, etc.; Wanganui.

officinalis, L. Wellington; less frequent than the preceding species.

Cruciferæ.

* Matthiola sinuata, Br. Castle Rock.

Cheiranthus cheiri, L. Wellington, etc.; a garden outcast.

Nasturtium officinale. Br.

var. siifolium. Abundant.

Barbarea prœcox, Br. Wellington, etc.

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Sisymbrium officinale, L. Abundant.

Brassica oleracea, L.

napus, L.

rapa, L.

Sinapis nigra, L.

arvensis, L.

Alyssum maritimum, L. Miramar; Pitone.

Cochlearia armoracia, L. A garden outcast.

Capsella bursa-pastoris, DC. Common.

Senebiera coronopus, Poiret.

S. didyma, Persoon. Spreading rapidly, and apparently more permanent in its hold than S. coronopus.

Lepidium ruderale, L. Abundant, widely diffused by sheep.

Raphanus sativus, L. Abundant in many places, especially on the railway line between Kaiwarawara and Pitone.

Resedaceæ.

* Reseda luteola, L. On sand-hills below the block-house, Wanganui.

Violaceæ.

Viola odorata, L. Ohariu; possibly planted.

tricolor, L. An occasional outcast from gardens.

β. arvensis. Cultivated land, etc.

Vitaceæ.

Vitis vinifera, L. Occasionally found near the sites of abandoned homesteads.

Caryophylleæ.

Silene quinquevulnera, L. Wellington; Hutt; East Coast; Wairarapa; Lower Rangitikei; Wanganui, etc.

* noctiflora, L. Karori Road; Wellington.

* Lychnis coronaria, L. Karori Road; Porirua Valley; etc.

Cerastium glomeratum, Thuill.

triviale, Link.

Stellaria media, With.

Arenaria serpyllifolia, L. Near Wellington; East Coast.

Sagina apetala, L. Mount Victoria; Miramar; Hutt, etc.

procumbens, L. Common about Wellington; Rimutaka Mountains; Wairarapa.

Spergula arvensis, L. Wellington; Wairarapa; etc.

Spergularia rubra, St. Hilaire. Thorndon; Miramar.

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Polycarpon tetraphyllum, L. Common throughout the district. A remarkable variety forming hemispherical masses of deep green foliage, leaves always opposite, and solitary axillary cymes, with less conspicuous bracts than in the ordinary form, is abundant on the sands near Cape Palliser.

Hypericineæ.

Hypericum androsœmum, L. Happy Valley; Karori; Ohariu; etc.

perforatum, L. Karori; Porirua; Wairarapa; etc.

humifuscum, L. Near Castle Point.

Malvaceæ.

Malva rotundifolia, L. Wellington; Wairarapa, etc.; Foxton; Wanganui.

Lavatera arborea, L. An occasional garden escape.

Lineæ.

Linum usitatissimum, L. Near an old ford of the Ruamahunga, Haurarangahau, plentiful; Wairarapa.

Geraniaceæ.

* Geranium robertianum, L. Tinakori Hill; Kaiwarawara.

Pelargonium quercifolium, Aiton. A garden escape.

Erodium cicutarium, L.

var. triviale

var. pilosum. Wellington; East Coast; Wairarapa; Wanganui.

Sapindaceæ.

Melianthus major, L. A garden escape, but able to maintain its position when not disturbed by man.

Leguminosæ.

Ulex europœus, L.

Cytisus scoparius, Link. Common about Wellington and other places.

hirsutus, L. (?) Karori, Wairarapa, Wanganui, and other places. Occasionally planted for garden fences, etc.

Medicago sativa, L. An agricultural escape, but, except on calcareous soils, appears to die out in a few years.

lupulina, L.

denticulata, Willd. The black and toothed medicks are alike frequent throughout the district; the first is a valuable fodder plant; the toothed medick is useful in spring, but its twisted, burr-like legumes are anathematized by the wool-grower.

maculata, Sibth. Near Wellington.

Melilotus officinalis, L.

arvensis, Wallroth.

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*Trifolium incarnatum, L. Porirua—H. B. Kirk!

pratense, L.

medium, L.

* striatum, L. Kilbirnie—H. B. Kirk!

glomeratum, L. Mount Victoria.

repens, L.

procumbens, L. Near Wellington; Wairarapa; East Coast; Wanganui.

minus, Sm.

resupinatum, L. Mount Victoria—H. B. Kirk!

Lotus corniculatus, L. Near Castle Point.

Robinia pseudacacia, Willd. A mere garden or plantation escape, increasing rapidly by suckers where undisturbed.

Vicia tetrasperma, Mœnch.

var. gracilis. Kaiwarawara—H. B. Kirk!

hirsuta, Koch.

sativa, L.

angustifolia, Roth.

*Lathyrus grandiflorus, L. A garden escape, near the Hutt.

odoratus, L. Karori-road, etc.

Rosaceæ.

Amygdalus persica, L.

Primus cerasus, L. The peach and cherry are often found on the sites of abandoned homesteads, but do little more than maintain the position in which they were placed by man.

Rubus discolor, Weihe and Nees.

rudis, Weihe. Happy Valley; Ohariu; etc., etc.

idœus, L.

Fragaria vesca, L.

Potentilla reptans, L. Tinakori Road; a garden weed.

Alchemilla arvensis (L.) Lyall Bay—H. B. Kirk.

Poterium sanguisorba (L.) Hills near Castle Point.

Acœna ovina, L. Mount Victoria, etc.—H. B. Kirk! Porirua—J. Buchanan! Rosa rubiginosa, L.

canina, L.

var. sarmentacea. Near Wellington; very rare.

multiflora Thunb. Taita; Upper Hutt; etc., etc.

Saxifrageæ.

Ribes grossularia, L. Not unfrequent in forests—Makara; Ohariu; Wairarapa—probably originating from seeds carried by birds.

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Onagrarieæ.

Œnothera stricta, L. Wairarapa; Wanganui.

Lythraceæ.

Lythrum hyssopifolia, L. Wellington; East Coast; Wairarapa; Marton; Wanganui, etc.

Umbelliferæ.

Conium maculatum, L. Te Aro.

Apium graveolens, L. An occasional garden escape; soon dying out.

Petroselinum sativum, Hoffm.

Fœniculum vulgare, Gærtn.

Pastinaca sativa, L.

Daucus carota, L. The parsley, fennel, parsnip, and carrot are common garden escapes; the fennel, and in some cases parsley, are increasing.

Caprifoliaceæ.

Sambucus nigra, L.

* Leycesteria formosa, Wallroth. Karori; Pakuratahi. A garden escape which, if left undisturbed, would increase rapidly. A large patch formerly existed on the site of the new reservoir.

Rubiaceæ.

Galium aparine, L.

Sherardia arvensis, L.

Valerianeæ.

Centranthus ruber, DC. Wellington; Karori; Wairarapa.

Dipsaceæ.

*Dipsacus sylvestris, L. On the hills between the Tinakori-road and Kaiwarawara; Makara Valley; Porirua Valley.

Scabiosa atropurpurea, L. Karori; Wairarapa. A garden escape.

Compositæ.

Centaurea solstitialis, L. Evans Bay; East Coast; Foxton.

Carduus lanceolatus, L.

marianus, Gærtner. One of the commonest plants about Wellington; Wairarapa, etc.; comparatively rare.

arvensis, Curtis. Miramar—J. Buchanan. Probably extirpated.

Erigeron canadense, L. The Hutt; Belmont, etc.; East Coast. Not nearly so abundant as in Auckland.

Bellis perennis, L.

Anthemis arvensis, L. East Coast, etc.

cotula, L. Karori, etc.

Achillea millefolium, L.

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Matricaria inodora, L.

parthenium, L.

Chrysanthemum segetum, L.

leucanthemum, L.

Artemisia absinthium, L. Porirua.

Senecio vulgaris, L.

sylvaticus, L. Wanganui.

scandens, L. A garden escape. Karori and other places.

Cryptostemma calendulacea, Br. Wanganui.

Lapsana communis, L.

Arnoseris pusilla, Gærtn. East Coast, etc.

Cichorium intybus, L. Near Greytown.

Hypochœris glabra, L. Common about Wellington, etc.

radicata, L.

Helminthia echioides, Gærtn.

Thrincia hirta, Roth.

Apargia autumnalis, Willd.

Taraxacum officinale, Wiggers.

Crepis virens, L.

Sonchus asper, Hoffm.

Xanthium spinosum, L. At the foot of the Paikakariki Hill.

Campanulaceæ.

* Campanula trachelium, L. A garden escape; Ohariu.

Apocyneæ.

Vinca major, L. Taita; Upper Hutt; Wairarapa, etc.

Gentianeæ.

Erythrœa centaurium, Pers. Makara; Porirua; Wairarapa.

Borragineæ.

Borrago officinalis, L. A garden escape. Johnsonville.

Myosotis strigulosa, Rehf. Wellington; East Coast; Wairarapa.

Solaneæ.

Solanum tuberosum, L.

indicum, L.

Physalis peruviana, L.

Nicotiana tabacum, L.

Lycium barbarum, L. Upper Hutt; East Coast.

Scrophularineæ.

Verbascum thapsus, L.

blattaria, L.

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Mimulus luteus, L. Abundant in swampy or moist places about Wellington; Karori: Ohariu; Wairarapa.

moschatus, L. Kahumingi; East Coast.

Digitalis purpurea, L. Ohariu.

Veronica agrestis, L. Not unfrequent in cultivated land. Makara; Te Ore, etc.

buxbaumii, Ten. Karori-road; East Coast.

arvensis, L.

serpyllifolia, L.

Labiatæ.

Mentha dentata, L. Horokiwi Valley.

viridis, L. Karori; Kaiwarawara; Ohariu; Wairarapa.

Stachys arvensis, L. Common in cultivated ground.

palustris, L. Wanganui.

* Nepeta glechoma, Benth. Wanganui.

Marrubium vulgare, L. Foxton; Wairarapa, etc.

Prunella vulgaris, L.

* Lamium purpureum, L. Cultivated ground. Wanganui.

Verbenaceæ.

Verbena officinalis, L. Porirua; Pakuratahi; Wairarapa.

Primulaceæ.

Anagallis arvensis, L.

Plantagineæ.

Plantago major, L.

media, L. A single specimen observed near the outlet of Adelaideroad drain, Te Aro beach.—J. Buchanan.

*varia, R. Br. This plant has for several years maintained a struggling existence in Boulcott-street, Wellington, but appears doomed to speedy extinction from the progress of street improvements.

lanceolata, L.

coronopus, L. Te Aro beach; Kilbirnie.

Polygoneæ.

Polygonum persicaria, L. Near Wellington.—J. Buchanan!

convolvolus, L. Cultivated land. Te Ore.

Rumex obtusifolius, L.

pulcher, L. Not unfrequent about Wellington; the Hutt, etc.

*maritimus, L. The “golden dock” is stated, on anonymous authority in the “Educational Gazette,” I., p. 46 (1874).

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to occur at Pipitea Point, I cannot but think erroneously, as so conspicuous a plant would, of necessity, have attracted the attention of local botanists.

*palustris, Sm. Pipitea Point—J. Buchanan! (1872); now extinct.

crispus, L.

sanguineus, L. Te Aro, etc.

β. viridis.

conglomeratus, Murr. Pipitea Point.—Anonymous in “Educational Gazette,” I., p. 146. It is probable that starved specimens of R. viridis have been mistaken for this.

acetosella, L.

Amaranthaceæ.

Amaranthus blitum, L. A fugitive weed in gardens; rare. Wellington.

Chenopodiaceæ.

Beta cycla, Auct. Hutt-road.

Chenopodium album, L.

viride, L.

murale, L.

Atriplex angustifolia, Sm.

erecta, Huds.

* deltoidea, Bab. Te Aro; Evans Bay.

Euphorbiaceé.

Euphorbia helioscopia, L. Cultivated land; Pitone, etc.

peplus, L.

lathyris, L. A garden escape. The Hutt.

Urticeæ.

Urtica urens, L. Fort of Paikakariki Hill.

dioica, L. Near Wellington.

Ficus carica, L. Occasionally found on the sites of abandoned gardens.

Cannabineæ.

* Humulus lupulus, L. Happy Valley; near Porirua, etc.

Irideæ.

Sisyrinchium chilense, Hook. Hills about Wellington.

Iris germanica, L.

susiana, L. Not unfrequent on the sites of abandoned homesteads, etc.

* pseudacorus, L. The Hutt.

Amaryllideæ.

Agave americana, L. Near deserted homesteads, etc.

Aroideæ.

Richardia africana, Kunth. The Hutt; probably planted.

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liliaceæ.

Asparagus officinalis, L. Solitary plants are sometimes found originating from seed carried by birds; near Khandallah; Te Ore. It can scarcely be expected to maintain its position, except perchance in maritime localities.

Gramineæ.

Digitaria sanguinalis, Scop. Near Castle Point.

Phleum pratense, L.

Phalaris canariensis, L.

arundinacea, L., β. picta. By a tributary of the Waiwetu; probably planted.

Anthoxanthum odoratum, L.

Agrostis canina, L.

alba, L.

β. stolonifera.

Gastridium lendigerum, Gaud. Miramar—J. Buchanan.

Polypogon monspeliensis, Desf. Evans Bay; Miramar, etc.

Lagurus ovatus, L. Miramar—J. Buchanan. I have not seen specimens.

Psamma arenaria, R. and S. Extensively planted at Miramar, but does not increase by seed.

Cynodon dactylon, Pers. Formerly at Te Aro Beach, near the site now occupied by the kerosene store; Castle Point.

Aira caryophyllea, L.

Avena sativa, L.

Arrhenatherum avenaceum, Beauv. Kaiwarawara, etc.

Holcus lanatus, L.

mollis, L.

Dactylis glomerata, L.

Poa annua, L.

pratensis, L.

trivialis, L. Frequent about Wellington and other places.

Glyceria fluitans, Br. Wellington, abundant; Karori; Makara, etc.; Hutt Valley; less frequent in the Wairarapa.

Briza minor, L.

maxima, L. Plentiful about Wellington, Evans Bay, etc.

Festuca sciuroides, Roth.

Bromus sterilis, L.

mollis, L.

racemosus, L. Pollhill Gully, etc.

commutatus, Schrad.

arvensis, L. Miramar—J. Buchanan. I have not seen specimens.

unioloides, Humb.

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Cynosurus cristatus, L. More generally naturalized in the Wellington district than any other.

Triticum sativum, L.

Lolium perenne, L.

italicum, A. Braun.

temulentum, L.

β. arvense. East Coast and Wairarapa.

* Lepturus, sp. Common on shingly beaches from Cape Palliser to Lowry Bay, and from Cape Terawiti to Miramar.

Hordeum vulgare, L.

murinum, L. Common near the sea; rare inland.

Anthistiria australis Br. Lower Rangitikei; Mount Victoria.

Note.—Streptachne ramosissima, Trin., discovered by Mr. Travers in the South Island, occurs in a naturalized condition at Miramar.

Panicum imbecille, Trin., occurs in an indigenous condition in the northern part of this island, and has become naturalized in the botanic gardens.

Art. LII.—On the New Zealand Species of Phyllocladus.

By T. Kirk, F.L.S.

[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 17th November, 1877.]

With the exception of the kauri the celery-leaved pines are the most attractive members of our indigenous coniferæ; their striking appearance at once arrests the attention of the planter, while the singular structure of their foliaceous appendages gives them special interest in the eyes of the botanist. Only five species are known, three of which are found in New Zealand, in many localities forming a marked feature in the vegetation. Of the remaining species one is confined to the lofty mountains of Borneo, another which is closely allied to, if not identical with, the New Zealand P. alpina, is found in Tasmania, and, I believe, also in New Caledonia.

The species vary from dwarf alpine shrubs as P. alpina to handsome trees as P. trichomanoides, seventy feet in height, with a trunk from two to three feet in diameter, and affording timber of great strength and durability. All the species have the branches more or less arranged in whorls. P. glauca is invariably diœcious, P. trichomanoides invariably monœcious, P. alpina must be considered monœcious also, but there is reason to believe that this species shows a tendency to assume a diœcious character; this, however, has not been proved.

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True leaves are only produced in the young state; they disappear before the plant attains its third year; rudimentary scale-like leaves, from the axils of which the broad foliaceous organs are produced, are developed on the branches, but soon fall off. The broad fern-like foliaceous expansions, which take the place of true leaves, are by some termed “cladodia,” by others “phyllodia,” according to the point of view from which they may be regarded, whether as consisting of abortive flattened branches when the former term is applied, or of a flattened and expanded petiole, or of coherent leaves, or of an expanded combination of leaves and petiole—to either of which the term phyllodia is applied. As, however, these organs develope flower-buds, a process of which true leaves are incapable, it is evident that they cannot be regarded merely as connate leaves, or any modification of leaves and petioles, so that the term cladodia is most closely applicable.

The cladodia are thick and coriaceous, more or less rhomboid in shape, with the upper margin more or less toothed, lobed, or erose; the lateral veins radiate from a central vein outwards, so that the organ bears a general resemblance to the pinnule of a large species of Adiantum. In P. glauca and P. trichomanoides the cladodia are arranged distichously on a rachis consisting of a peculiarly modified branch, and present the appearance of an ordinary pinnate leaf with alternate leaflets, forming in fact pinnate cladodia, the greater portion of which fall off when the lateral expansions have performed their function. But in P. trichomanoides during autumn or early spring a whorl of new cladodia is developed at the apex of an old rachis, the lateral cladodes of which soon after drop off and the rachis becomes a permanent branch. In the spring, male amenta are produced at the apex of a branch and surrounded by a whorl of cladodia with the lateral expansions greatly reduced in size and carrying female cones. This arrangement, however, is liable to several unimportant modifications. In P. glauca the process is somewhat different; a terminal rachis becomes elongated and thickened, assuming the character of a true branch; in the following spring the axis is slightly elongated and densely clothed with recurved rudimentary leaves surmounted by a whorl of large cladodia, which carry female flowers instead of lateral cladodia in the lower part of the rachis.

The female flowers are arranged in amenta, which are one-flowered in P. trichomanoides, two- to four-flowered in P. alpina, and from ten- to twenty-flowered in P. glauca. Each ovule is imbedded between two modified leaves, which become thickened and fleshy as the fruit approaches maturity, and in P. glauca at length woody. In that species the numerous nuts are arranged in slightly interrupted spirals, and in all the species the nuts are much compressed, and have the lower part invested by an arillode, which is most conspicuously developed in P. alpina.

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No diagnosis of P. glauca has yet been published in the colony, although its discovery was announced in the first volume of our “Transactions.”* A short time previously it had been described in France from young cultivated specimens supposed to have been obtained in Tasmania or raised from Tasmanian seed. I now give a diagnosis drawn from fresh specimens, and have added new descriptions of the other indigenous species, embodying all the information I have been able to obtain respecting them.

Phyllocladus glauca.

Carriere, Coniferes, p. 502; Gordon, Pinetum, p. 140; Henk. and Hochst., Nadelhölz, p. 173.

Phyllocladus trichomanoides, Don; β. glauca, DC., Prodromus, XVI., part ii., p. 498.

A diœcious tree, 20–40 feet high, trunk 12–18 inches in diameter, branches stout; young leaves linear, glaucous beneath, crowded; scale leaves deciduous, recurved; cladodia distichous on a rachis 5–12 inches long; one or two at the end of a branch becoming produced into true branches, each developing a whorl of cladodia somewhat smaller than the original. Lateral cladodia glaucous when young, exceedingly coriaceous, rhomboid, or obliquely ovate-cuneate, deeply toothed or lobed; teeth obtuse. Flowers: male—amenta numerous, 10–20 at the tips of a branch, on stout radiating peduncles, including the peduncles about two inches long; scales obtuse; female—amenta distichous, shortly peduncled, 4–6 on each side of the lower part of a rachis; ovoid, half-an-inch long; nuts 10–20, much compressed.

Hab. North Island: Maungatawhiri—R. Mair! Great Omaha (1865), Great Barrier Island (1867), Cape Colville, Thames Gold Field—T. K.; Wairoa (East)—W. J. Palmer.

This species ascends from the sea level to 2,800 feet, attaining its largest dimensions in sheltered localities at the higher levels.

This is the toa-toa of the Maoris north of the Waitemata, but according to Colenso, the East Coast natives south of the Thames apply that name to the next species. Settlers in the South Island often apply it to P. alpina.

Although this species is glaucous in the young state, the specific name is not so appropriate as it would be to P. alpina.

The large size of the cladodia and the many-seeded fruit at once distinguish this fine species from its congeners; to these marked distinctive features may be added its diœcious character and long peduncled male catkins, which are more numerous than in either P. trichomanoides or P. alpina. The female catkins are not borne on the margins of cladodia, but

[Footnote] * Trans. N.Z. Inst., I., p. 149.

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on short peduncles which occupy their place and are confined to the lower part of the rachis. The nuts are arranged in slightly interrupted spirals.

The young leaves disappear about the second or third year. The mature plant bears some resemblance to the ginko, Salisburia adiantifolia.

Phyllocladus trichomanoides.

Don in Lamb. Pin., ed. 2, App.; Rich., Con., p. 129, t. 3; A. Cunn., Prodr.; Hook., Ic. Plant., t. 549, 550, 551; Endl., Conif., p. 225; Hook. fil., Fl. N.Z., I., 235—Handbook, p. 952; Carr., Conif., p. 449; Gord., Pin., p. 142; Parl. in DC. Prodromus, XVI., pt. II., p. 498.

P. rhomboidalis, A. Rich., Fl. Nov. Zel., p. 363. (not of C. L. Rich.)

A monœcious tree 60 feet high or more, trunk 2–3 feet in diameter, branches whorled, branchlets slender; young leaves linear, crowded, scale leaves acuminate, rachides 1–3 in. long, whorled, cladodia distichous, coriaceous, lobed or toothed, lobes truncate, erose. Fl.: male—amenta in terminal fasciculi of from 5 to 10, shortly pedicelled, scales acuminate; female—amenta solitary on the margin of cladodia, which are often reduced to mere peduncles, one-flowered, cup fleshy, nut much compressed.

Hab. North Island. Frequent in forests from the North Cape to Lake Taupo; less frequent southwards.

South Island: Mr. Travers informs me that this species occurs in the Maitai Valley, Nelson, where it attains the height of forty feet. I have not seen South Island specimens.

This species ranges from the sea-level to 2,500 feet.

It is the tanekaha of the northern natives, and, according to Colenso, the toa-toa of the natives south of the Thames.

It is easily distinguished by its slender twiggy branches and single seeded fruit. It is the loftiest of all the celery pines, in some cases attaining the height of seventy feet, and affording a timber of great strength and durability, capable of being worked with the greatest ease. The bark is valued for tanning and yields a black dye which has long been utilized by the natives.

The young leaves disappear the second year, and their transition to cladodia is somewhat abrupt; from the axils of the uppermost leaves pinnate or pinnatifid leaf-like organs are produced, the first two or three being about an inch in length with the lateral segments deeply laciniate or pinnatifid, but immediately above these others of larger dimensions are quickly produced, three to four inches in length, with the lateral segments acute and deeply laciniated, membranous, and glaucous beneath. These gradually pass into cladodia, which do not become coriaceous until the plant developes its second or third whorl of branches.

In an account of the building timbers of Otago,* Mr. Blair states that

[Footnote] * Trans. N.Z. Inst., IX., p. 163.

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this species is common “at high altitudes on the west coast, but rare on the east coast of Otago,” and that “it grows to a height of from fifty to sixty feet, with a straight clear trunk two to three feet in diameter for two-thirds of the distance.” He adds, “A few trees are to be met with in the vicinity of Dunedin,” etc. Unless Mr. Blair has been led astray by the native name tanekaha being misapplied to P. alpina, it is difficult to account for this error, as the present species does not occur in Otago, and P. alpina, although plentiful in the district mentioned by him, is usually little more than a bushy shrub, and never attains dimensions at all approaching those of P. trichomanoides.

Phyllocladus alpina.

Hook. f., Fl. N.Z., I., p. 235, t. 53—Handbook, p. 260; Carr., Conif., p. 501; Gord., Pin., p. 139; Henk. and Hochst., Nadelhölz, p. 373.

P. trichomanoides, Don, var. alpina; Parl. in DC. Prodromus, XVI., pl. II., p. 499.

A monœcious shrub or small tree, 5–20 feet high; branches numerous, short, stout; cladodia crowded glaucous, very coriaceous, varying greatly in size—half an inch to an inch in length,—cuneate, or linear rhomboid, or linear oblong, almost entire or variously lobed or toothed, margin erose. Fl.: male—in terminal fasciculi of 3–5 small, shortly peduncled catkins; female—on the margins of reduced cladodia or at the base of others; ovules two to four; cup fleshy, and largely compressed.

Hab. North Island: Ruahine Mountains—Colenso; Tongariro—Bidwill.

South Island: Common on the mountains; sea level near Hokitika, etc.,—T.K. Ascends to 5,000 feet near Nelson (according to Bidwill.)

The settlers in the South Island term this plant indifferently tanekaha and toa-toa.

Easily distinguished by its bushy habit, its crowded simple cladodia and 3–4-seeded fruit; the nuts are inverted, with a membranous arillode which is developed considerably above the margin of the fleshy cup.

The trunks of this species are used for levers by bushmen on the West Coast, but are rarely of sufficient dimensions to be valued for other purposes, except perhaps as fencing rails, for which their strength and durability would be well adapted. In the Handbook of the N.Z. Flora the trunk is said to be “sometimes two feet in diameter.” I do not remember to have seen a specimen more than one-third of that size, and Mr. Buchanan informs me that his experience is the same.

The young state of this plant closely resembles that of P. glauca, but the first formed cladodia are shorter, broader, and more coriaceous in all stages; it is easily distinguished from that species and from P. trichomanoides, but I have no doubt that it will ultimately prove identical with the Tasmanian P. rhomboidalis, Rich., (P. aspleniifolia, Lab.), for although

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specimens from alpine habitats look very different to that plant, fruited specimens from low levels are undistinguishable. I have not had the opportunity of examining male catkins of P. rhomboidalis, but believe they are longer and more slender than those of our plant.

Art. LIII.—A revised Arrangement of the New Zealand Species of Dacrydium, with Descriptions of new Species.

By T. Kirk, F.L.S.

Plates XVIII.—XX.

[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 2nd February, 1877.]

Amongst the Protean plants of New Zealand few genera are in a more unsatisfactory condition than Dacrydium. The unisexual character of the species, the difficulty of procuring good flowering and fruiting specimens from the same individuals, and the local and difficult habitats of several forms, have led to great perplexity, through the combination of distinct species and a want of precision in the limitation of those admitted. It is hoped that the present paper will tend to remove these difficulties, although it must not be looked upon as final, since we may fairly expect that other species will yet be discovered in the mountain districts of the central portion of the North Island and the south-western portion of the South.

Although my attention has been specially directed to this genus for the last ten years, it was not until the commencement of last year that I was able to solve the difficulties by which it was surrounded, and to lay down more precise limitation for the recognized species with descriptions of others new to science. I am pleased to say that Sir Joseph Hooker and myself have independently arrived at the same conclusions, except with regard to a single species, and I take the opportunity of expressing my thanks to him for his valued notes, and for the opportunity so kindly afforded me of comparing several of the original specimens of Bidwill, Lyall, Colenso, and Hector, with my own collections.

The New Zealand species form two natural groups—the first distinguished by the young plants possessing terete spreading leaves which pass by very gradual transition, sometimes extending over a number of years, into the abbreviated and closely imbricated condition, characteristic of the mature state. With one exception all the species of this group are characterized by solitary fruit.

In the second group the young plants exhibit flat, linear, spreading leaves, which for the most part pass abruptly into the quadrifariously imbricated leaves characteristic of the fruiting state: leaves of an intermediate kind are

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rare, and when produced are merely the linear leaves diminished in size. In some specimens of D. kirkii there is reason to believe that this transition is not effected until the tree is thirty or forty years old. In D. bidwillii this change is effected by the end of the second or third year at most, although occasionally branches exhibiting the early form of leaf are produced on the trunk and primary limbs of old specimens. D. colensoi requires an intermediate period, and on old specimens of its most robust mountain form the early leaf state is rarely seen. The members of this group exhibit a strong tendency to produce aggregated fruit which attains its maximum in D. kirkii.

The species vary greatly in habit and dimensions. D. laxifolium is perhaps the most diminutive pine known; pigmy specimens may be covered by a crown-piece. D. bidwillii is a dwarf, often prostrate, shrub. D. cupressinum is commonly 80 feet high or more, with a trunk 2–4 feet in diameter, and weeping branches. D. colensoi is a small tree with short trunk and heavy round head. D. kirkii is a noble species, 60–80 feet high, with conical head and peculiar aspect from the lower spreading branches having leaves resembling those of a Picea, while the upper fastigiate branches have abbreviated cypress-like foliage.

Several species are of great importance from their economic value. D. cupressinum, the rimu or red pine, yields the greatest portion of the marketable timber produced in the South Island. It is of great value for all inside work, and is largely used for building purposes, but, although of great strength, is not durable when exposed. It is largely used in the manufacture of furniture. D. westlandicum, the Westland or white silver pine, is of great durability, probably owing to the large quantity of oily and resinous matter which it contains. It is exported from Westland to a considerable extent, and fetches a higher price in the Westland markets than any other timber except kauri. D. intermedium, the yellow silver pine, is considered still more durable, and is highly valued on the west coast of the South Island. D. colensoi, the yellow pine or tar-wood of the Otago settlers, is another species of great durability, although of rather small dimensions. D. kirkii, the manoao of the North Island, affords perhaps the most durable timber of all: small trunks the thickness of a man's arm, used as palisades in a Maori pa known to have been constructed ninety years ago, are said to be still perfectly sound and good. This species was sufficiently plentiful on the Great Barrier Island to admit of its conversion a few years ago, and the timber was placed in the Auckland market under the name of Barrier pine; but, owing to the removal of the machinery, the supply has ceased.

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Key to the Species.

A. Leaves of young plants, terete, spreading, passing into the mature imbricating state by gradual transitions. Nuts solitary (except in D. westlandicum), not compressed.

1.

Branches pendulous, mature leaves imbricating all round. D. cupressinum.
2.

Branches erect, mature leaves triangular, 4-fariously imbricating. D. intermedium.
3.

Branches erect, diœcious; nuts 1–3. D. westlandicum.
4.

Branches prostrate, struggling, monœcious. D. laxifolium.

B. Leaves of young plants linear, flat, abruptly changing into the mature state; nuts 1–5, compressed.

5.

Erect, recumbent, or prostrate, leaves of young plants sessile; nuts 1–2. D. bidwillii.
6.

Erect, young leaves shortly petioled; nuts 1–2; mature leaves 4-fariously imbricating. D. colensoi.
7.

Erect, young leaves shortly petioled; nuts 1–5; mature leaves sub-cylindrical. D. kirkii.

1. Dacrydium cupressinum.

Solander in Forst. Plantis. Escul., p. 80: Prodr., p. 92; Don in Lamb. Pin., edit. 1, p. 93, t. 41; Rich., Conif., p. 16, t. 2, f. 3; A. Rich., Fl. Nov. Zel., p. 361; A. Cunn., Prodr. in Ann. Nat. Hist., I., p. 214; Endl., Con., p. 225; Hook. f., Flora of New Zeal., I., p. 233: Handbook of N.Z. Fl., p. 258; Carr., Conif., p. 486; De Candolle, Prodr., XVI., pars 2, p. 494.

Thalamia cupressina, Spreng., Syst. Veg., 3, p. 890.

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A diœcious tree 60–80 feet high or more, trunk 3–5 feet in diameter, bark scaling, branches pendulous, pale green; leaves of young plants terete, lax, ascending, on older branches shorter, trigonous decurrent, imbricating all round, ¼ inch long; on mature branches shorter, subulate, curved, densely imbricating, 1/12 inch long; male catkins not seen; nuts on the tips of curved branchlets, solitary, ovoid, ⅛ inch long, not compressed; involucral cups rarely fleshy.

Hab. Throughout New Zealand, ascending to 2,000 feet.

A handsome tree, affording valuable although not durable timber. Young trees up to 25 feet high, when not too crowded, form objects of exquisite beauty. Their pyramidal or conical habit, and their long slender pendulous pale green branches, present an aspect totally different from that of any other native tree. In old specimens the pyramidal habit has disappeared, the branches are spreading, the pendulous branchlets short, and the leaves more closely imbricated, so that although the aspect is still unique in the New Zealand forest, much of the elegance and grace of the early state is lost.

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This species is most abundant on the west coast of the South Island, where it often forms a large proportion of the forests, but it attains its largest dimensions in the deep forests of the North Island.

It should be remarked that the recurved fertile branchlets are really erect, the branches on which they are borne being pendulous. Occasionally old specimens are found with erect or sub-erect branches drooping at the tips.

This species is the rimu of the Maoris and the red pine of the settlers.

2. Dacrydium intermedium, n. s.

A handsome diœcious tree 40 feet high or more; trunk, 1–2 feet in diameter; wood yellowish-red; leaves of young plants laxly crowded, terete, patent or erecto-patent, ½ inch long, gradually becoming closely imbricated, 4-farious, triangular ovate, obtuse, keeled. Male catkins short, ovoid, terminal. Nuts terminal, erect, solitary, elliptic, with a minute hooked apiculus and faint striæ; not compressed.

Hab. North Island: Hirakimata, Great Barrier Island; Cape Colville Peninsula, and Thames Gold-field to Te Aroha, 1,500–2,500 feet; Tongariro—Grace in Herb. Mus. Col.!

South Island: Dun Mountain, Nelson (collector's name not attached.) Herb. Mus. Col.! West Coast: Greymouth to Okarita (and probably southwards to Martin Bay.)

In the mature state the leaves resemble those of slender forms of D. colensoi, to which Sir Joseph Hooker is inclined to refer it; it is, however, separated from that species by the terete leaves of the young state and the uncompressed nut; the branches are less fastigiate than those of D. bidwillii, and less spreading than those of D. colensoi. The slender branches of young plants are slightly flexuous, and have some resemblance to those of Podocarpus dacrydioides, but are much larger; these are replaced by others similar to those of D. cupressinum, but stouter, which gradually diminish in size and widen into the broadly imbricating appressed state characteristic of the fruiting branches.

The West Coast plant is identified in the absence of fruit; the early leaves are more generally patent than is the case in northern specimens, the mature branches less strict, and the leaves less broadly keeled, differences which are probably due to situation alone; in both, the mature leaves are attached by broad bases. It was chiefly this character which led to its being considered an erect tree-form of D. laxifolium, in my account of the Botany of the Thames Gold Field.*

[Footnote] * Trans. N.Z. Inst., II., p. 95.

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Dacrydium Westlandicum T Kirk.

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Dacrydium Intermedium, n.s.

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This species is the yellow silver pine of Westland, where it is highly valued for its durability. It is occasionally utilized on the Thames Goldfield.

Plate XX. Dacrydium intermedium.

1.

Sterile branch and leaves natural size.
2.

Fertile branchlet enlarged.
3.

Longitudinal section of nut enlarged.

3. Dacrydium westlandicum.

T. Kirk, MS.; Hook. fil., Icones Plantarum, t. 1218.

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A diœcious tree 40–50 feet high, trunk 1.½–2.½ feet in diameter, bark whitish, branches slender. Leaves of seedling plants terete, of early branches sub-terete, or trigonous, or subulate, decurrent, erecto-patent, compressed, ¼–⅓ inch long. Fruiting branchlets very slender, 1/20–1/15 inch in diameter; leaves rigid, broadly triangular, compressed, carinate, slightly imbricate, obtuse. Male catkins terminal, solitary, oblong, 1/15–1/10 inch long. Nuts (immature) solitary, or 1–3, 1/15–1/10 inch long, obtuse, not compressed.

North Island: Whangaroa—Hector!; Great Barrier Island—J. Spring-all and T. Kirk (1871).

South Island: Greymouth to Okarita (in all probability extending northward to the mouth of the Buller and southwards to Martin Bay); not observed further inland than the Ahaura plain.

In the young state this species closely resembles the preceding, but the leaves are slightly trigonous; the minute leaves of the fruiting branches, and the small obtuse nuts, which are usually two in number, distinguish the mature state from all other members of this section. The wood is white, dense, and extremely durable.

My first knowledge of this plant was from dried specimens in the young state received from Dr. Hector in 1869, and collected by him at Whangaroa. In 1871, Mr. Springall and myself collected young plants on one of the high ranges in the interior of the Great Barrier Island, but owing to the approach of night we were unable to search for trees. It was only on visiting the west coast of the South Island in January, 1877, that I was able to identify the young state of the northern plant with the present species, which, although long valued for the durability of its timber, and forming an article of export under the name of Westland pine, or white silver pine, had not come under the observation of botanists.

The early leaves have some resemblance to those of Podocarpus dacrydioides, but the plant is stouter, with longer and flexuous branches.

Plate XVIII. Dacrydium westlandicum, T. Kirk.

— Sterile branchlet.
2. Fertile branchlet, enlarged.
1. " " enlarged.
3. Nucule, enlarged.
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4. Dacrydium laxifolium.

Hook. fil., Lond. Journ. of Bot., IV., p. 143; Icones Plant., 815; Flora Nov. Zel., I., p. 234; Handbook of N.Z. Fl., p. 259; Carr., Conif., p. 487.

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A weak prostrate shrub, with trailing stems. Monœcious; branches few, straggling, 3–15 inches long. Leaves on young plants, linear, curved, spreading, ⅓–⅕ inch long, gradually diminishing in size to 1/12 inch, when they become slightly thickened and obtuse, at length laxly imbricated all round the branches, broadly ovate, keeled, 1/20–1/25 inch long. Male catkins terminal on short branchlets, ⅕–¼ inch long, solitary elliptic, anthers 2. Female flowers solitary, terminal; nut conical, with a minute hooked apiculus. Involucral cup usually dry, sometimes dilated, fleshy, red.

α. dcbilis.—Branches few, straggling; leaves rarely imbricating.

β. compacta.—Branches numerous, short, strict; leaves imbricating; plant forming a compact mass.

North Island: α. Ruahine Range—Colenso; Tongariro—Bidwill! Colenso, Hector!

South Island: α. Nelson mountains—Bidwill; Black Hills, Canterbury, 4,000 feet—Sinclair and Haast!; high ground between Kumara and Marsden, Westland—T. Kirk; Upper Waimakariri and Arthur's Pass, 2,000–3,000 feet—J. D. Enys and T.K.; mountains above Lake Harris—T.K.; Otago—Hector and Buchanan. β. Otago—J. Buchanan, Herb. Mus. Col.!; mountains above Lake Harris—T.K.

The most diminutive pine known; fruiting specimens are sometimes only two inches high, usually from six inches to ten. South Island specimens are usually more or less glaucous, and rather more robust than those from Tongariro, collected by Dr. Hector. The latter moreover are destitute of imbricated leaves. In southern specimens both forms of leaf may be found on the same branch, and cases of reversion are not uncommon. When the involucral cup is fleshy, the fruit bears a great resemblance to that of Podocarpus dacrydioides.

At first sight the var. β. compacta appears a totally different plant, but is connected with the type by intermediate forms.

In his sketch of the botany of Otago, Mr. Buchanan remarks:—“This (D. laxifolium) is a very doubtful species, being difficult to distinguish from D. colensoi,”—an opinion in which I cannot concur. To me it appears a most distinct plant, easily recognized in all stages. The difficulty experienced by Mr. Buchanan and others has doubtless arisen from mixing small specimens of D. bidwillii with this species.

5. Dacrydium bidwillii, n.s.

Hook. fil., in litt.

A diœcious shrub, erect, spreading, or prostrate. Leaves on young plants linear, obtuse, crowded, sessile, flat, ascending, ¼–⅓ inch long; on

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fruiting branches 4—farious, imbricated, coriaceous, triangular, keeled, obtuse. Male catkins slender, terminal solitary, anthers two, connective, obtuse. Nuts solitary or in twos, striate, compressed, keeled, obtuse; involucral cup sometimes resinous.

α. erecta.—Erect, main branches pyramidal or conical; linear flat leaves obscurely costate, fruiting branchlets very slender; male catkins produced in profusion.

β. reclinata.—Prostrate or reclinate, linear leaves with evident costa; fruiting branches stouter.

North Island: I have no certain knowledge of the occurrence of either form in this island, although there is reason to believe that var. α. occurs at Tongariro, and is probably not uncommon on the Ruahine and other mountains.

South Island: α. Nelson—Bidwill in Herb. Hook! Roto Iti 2,000 feet, Square Town—T.K.; Canterbury—Sinclair and Haast; between Greymouth and Okarita, Westland—T.K.; Dusky Bay, Otago—Hector in Herb. Hook! β. Dun Mountain, Nelson—Herb. Mus. Col. (but without collector's name); flats by the Thomas River, Upper Waimakiriri, Bealey Gorge, and Lake Misery, 2,000–3,000 feet—J. D. Enys and T. Kirk; West Coast of Otago—Hector.

This species is distinguished from its allies by its dwarf stature and sessile linear leaves, which are attached by broad bases. It varies considerably in habit and in the size of the quadrifarious leaves.

In var. α, the linear flat leaves, so far as my observations extend, are never found on plants more than six inches high; when dry, they are of a pale brown colour; those of var. β. of a reddish-black.

A number of remarkable specimens of var. β. occur on flats by the Thomas river, where they form hemispherical clumps 2–5 feet high and 10–20 feet in diameter; there are also densely crowded rings of young plants with open centres of similar diameter. In the oldest specimens the trunk is found to branch at the surface of the ground, the main branches being prostrate, from 5–10 feet in length and 5–6 inches in diameter, rooting at their extremities. When the trunk is injured, or when it decays, the branches gradually die away, leaving their rooted tips to form a ring of young plants, but usually erect secondary branches are given off along their entire length, and a compact clump is formed. In this form the linear leaves are seldom seen except on seedlings, rarely small branches bearing leaves of the early type are given off from bare places in the main arms. Plants of similar habit were observed in the Waimakariri, but not nearly so well developed, owing to the crowded vegetation by which they were surrounded. The ordinary form of this variety has reclinate or spreading branches.

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At present the distribution of this species is imperfectly known from its having been confused with D. colensoi. A resinous plant, which must probably be referred here, is said to be plentiful in the Massacre Bay district.

6. Dacrydium colensoi.

Hook., Icon. Plant., t. 548; Hook. fil., Fl. Nov. Zel., I., p. 234: Handbook N.Z. Fl., p. 952; Endl., Conif., p. 226; De Cand., Prodr., 16, pars 2, p. 495.

Podocarpus (?) biformis, Hook., Icon. Plant., t. 544.

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A diœcious tree 20–40 feet high, bark whitish, trunk 1–2 feet in diameter; leaves on early branches ½-inch long, linear flat, obtuse, costate, spreading; on upper branches quadrifariously imbricated, short, triangular, or ovate oblong, stoutly keeled, obtuse, 1/20–1/12 inch long. “Male catkins terminal, solitary sessile; anthers 4–6; connective obtuse; nut small on a horizontal resinous cup-shaped disk.”

North Island: Tongariro and Ruahine Ranges—Colenso.

South Island: Nelson mountains, 5,000–6,000 feet (?)—Bidwill; Canterbury, 2,000–4,000 feet—Haast; Arthur's Pass, 3,000 feet—T.K.; Otago, 3,000 feet—Hector and Buchanan; descends to below 1,000 feet near Dunedin—T.K.

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A round-headed tree with spreading ascending branches, varying greatly in the size of the mature leaves and thickness of the ultimate branchlets, which range from 1/20–1/10 inch in diameter; in the more robust forms detached specimens may easily be mistaken for Veronica tetragona or V. lycopodioides. It differs from the preceding species in the arrangement of the branchlets, which are crowded at the ends of the branches and resemble an obtuse-topped kind of corymb. Not having had the good fortune to collect specimens in flower or fruit, I am unable to say if the nut is invariably solitary but suspect that it is not. From all forms of D. bid-willii it is distinguished by the larger petioled linear leaves, as well as the greater size and peculiar habit just described. According to Bidwill it occurs at the altitude of 6,000 feet on the Nelson Mountains, but I fear the height is over-estimated by 2,000 feet.

This species is the yellow pine or tar-wood of the Otago settlers; the wood is yellowish, dense, and durable, but can only be obtained in short lengths.

7. Dacdrydium kirkii.

F. Muell. in De Cand. Prodr., vol. XVI., pars 2, p. 495; Hook. f., Icon. Plant., t. 1,219.

A diœcious tree, 40–80 feet high, 2–4 feet in diameter. Leaves of sterile branches 1–1½ inch long, ½ inch wide, linear, flat, sub-acute, shortly petioled, erecto-patent, coriaceous, shining, crowded or scattered, costa and veins distinct; margins slightly cartilaginous. Leaves of fertile branches

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Dacrydium Kirkii, Hook f.

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sub-cylindrical, closely imbricated, broadly rhomboidal, carinate, obtuse, with a membranous margin on the upper edge. Male catkins broadly ovate, ½ inch long, terminal, solitary. Female terminal, involucral scales apiculate. Nuts 2–5 compressed, oval, obtuse, furrowed.

North Island: Whangaroa—Hector, T. K.; Cape Brett—Colenso; Whangarei—R. Mair!; Hokianga, Upper Wairoa, and Great Barrier Island—T. Kirk; Titirangi—T. F. Cheeseman.

A noble species, nearest to D. colensoi, but differing in the pyramidal or conical habit, in the large size of the lower leaves, the sub-cylindrical branches and aggregated nuts. The lower branches, sometimes to the height of 40 feet, are clothed with large linear leaves, giving the tree the appearance of a Picea, which is increased by its habit of growth. The lower branches are spreading, the upper fastigiate, and repeatedly dichotomously branched, with the branchlets forming semi-flabellate masses at the extremities. As in D. bidwillii and D. colensoi, the change from the spreading linear leaf state to the mature imbricated condition is most abrupt; in some specimens the tips of the lower branches exhibit appressed imbricated leaves, while the portions nearest the trunk are covered with large linear leaves, the intermixture of dimorphic foliage without intermediate forms presenting a singular and attractive appearance. The nuts are produced in greater abundance than those of any other New Zealand species, and often have their receptacles lined with a singular orange-coloured alveola. The nuts destitute of this lining are usually of less size.

The petioles of the flat linear leaves have a curious half twist.

This species is the manoao of the northern natives; its timber is of a reddish colour and of extreme durability.

I first collected this handsome species on the Great Barrier Island in 1867, and subsequently, under Dr. Hector's instruction, examined the Whangaroa habitat where he had previously discovered it. In papers on Northern Plants, and on the Botany of the Great Barrier Island, published in the first volume of “Transactions of the N. Z. Institute,”* I expressed a decided opinion as to its specific distinctness, but at that time I had not seen D. colensoi, and in deference to the opinion of Dr. Hector and Mr. Buchanan, who considered it a lowland form of that species, I refrained from giving a formal description. It was, however, published by the late Professor Parlatore the following year, under its present name in De Candolle's “Prodromus.” It is, perhaps, the most strongly marked of all the New Zealand species.

Plate XIX. Dacrydium kirkii.

1.

Sterile branch and leaves.
2.

Fertile branch enlarged.
3.

Female catkin enlarged.
4.

Nuts enlarged.

[Footnote] * Vol. I., pp. 141, 148.

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Art. LIV.—Notice of the Occurrence of a Variety of Zostera nana, Roth, in New Zealand.

By T. Kirk, F.L.S.

[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 12th January, 1878.]

Until within the last twenty years few groups of plants have received less attention than the Marine Phanerogams, all the known species of which belong to the Monocotyledonous Orders Hydrocharidaceœ and Naiadaceœ. A complete list by Dr. Ascherson, of Berlin, appeared in 1874 in Neumayer's “Anleitung in Wissenschaftlichen Beobachtungen auf Reisen,” containing twenty-six species arranged under eight genera.* The earliest record of any species having been found in New Zealand bears date so recently as 1867, when a Zostera, found in a flowerless condition in many places in the colony, was recorded in the “Handbook of the New Zealand Flora” as Zostera marina, L.—a species of wide distribution in the northern hemisphere—but the identity of our plant must be considered uncertain in the absence of flowers. I have now to record the discovery, in a flowering condition, of a second species, which, notwithstanding a slight departure from the normal characters, I identify with Zostera nana, Roth, and of which the following is a description.

Zostera nana, Roth, var. muelleri.

Z. muelleri, Irmisch.

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Stem creeping, rather stout for the size of the plant, clothed with the dead bases of old leaves. Leaves linear, 3–6 inches long, 1/16–1/12 inch wide, with about six nerves on each side of a midrib formed of two nerves in contact for their whole length, margin thickened; spathes 1–4, including the leafy portion 2–3 inches long, peduncles short, flattened; spadix rarely exceeding ¾ inch in length with inflexed membranous appendages on the margins; anthers about six on each side, ovules four; stigmas frequently exserted. Fruit faintly furrowed when mature.

Hab. North Island—Port Nicholson; on mud flats exposed at low water.

Our plant differs from the typical form in its more robust stem, clothed with the persistent bases of old leaves, leaves somewhat crowded and narrower, in the short, flattened peduncles, and in the rather larger fruit which agrees with the type in being faintly striated.

In Port Nicholson it is associated with the larger plant provisionally identified with Z. marina, the inflorescence of which must be sought in deep water.

[Footnote] * Not including Ruppia and those forms of Zannichellia and Potamogeton found in salt-water lagoons.

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According to Dr. Ascherson, the typical form Z. nana has a wide distribution, occurring at the Canary Islands, Mediterranean, North Coast of Sicily, Smyrna, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Portugal, Spain, France, British Islands, Holland, Denmark, Holstein, Japan, Cape of Good Hope, Port Natal, Nossi Beh.

Var. muelleri has been collected on the coasts of Chili, South and East Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand.

Zostera tasmanica, G. v. Martens, is said to occur in New Zealand, but I do not know by whom collected. The plant intended is probably that referred to in the early part of this paper as Z. marina; but in any case the identification cannot be considered satisfactory in the absence of flowers, since it is possible that our plant may belong to Phucagrostis, which it closely resembles in habit.

Art. LV.—Notice of the Occurrence of Juncus glaucus, L., in New Zealand.

By T. Kirk, F.L.S.

[Read before the Otago Institute, 17th January, 1878.]

In company with Captain J. Campbell-Walker I had the pleasure of discovering this interesting addition to our flora by the road-side between Hokitika and Ross, within a mile of the left bank of the Hokitika river. I had not time to make a detailed examination of the locality, but Mr. Shillitoe, who kindly went over it at my request, informs me that the plant occurs plentifully over a considerable area.

Juncus glaucus bears some resemblance to J. communis, Meyer, but is distinguished by its hard texture, interrupted pith, and glaucous striate rigid culms; the perianth segments are lanceolate and equal the capsule in length; the capsule is mucronate.

The culms are two to three feet in length, frequently drooping in large specimens.

In J. communis, var. hexangularis, the pith is sometimes slightly interrupted, but never to so great an extent as in J. glaucus, from which it may always be distinguished by the retuse capsule.

In all probability Juncus glaucus is not unfrequent on the west coast of the South Island. It is singular that this species, as well as J. lamprocarpus, Ehrhart, should not have been observed earlier. The latter species is abundant in the Hokitika district, extending southward to the Bluff and northward to Port Nicholson, but is not found on the eastern side of either island. In Taranaki and Auckland it is replaced by Juncus holoschœnus, Thunb.

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The South Island is much richer in Junceœ than has hitherto been supposed. In addition to the species now mentioned, Juncus capillaceus, Hook. f., previously known only in a single habitat in Hawke Bay, has been found in the Southern Alps; J. pauciflorus, T. Kirk, at Broken River, and J. involucratus, T. Kirk, in the Amuri. In short, with the exception of J. antarcticus, Hook. f., restricted to the mountain tops of Campbell Island, and the northern J. holoschœnus, all the New Zealand species are found in what may be termed the middle portion of the South Island—the old provincial districts of Westland and Christchurch including the Amuri. We may fairly expect that other species will be discovered.

Art. LVI.—Description of a new Species of Hymenophyllum.

By T. Kirk, F.L.S.

Plate XXI.—B.

[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 1st December, 1877.]

Hymenophyllum montanum.

Rhizome slender, wiry, creeping; fronds few, 2–3 inches long, glabrous, linear oblong or oblong lanceolate, bipinnatifid; stipes about 1 inch long, winged nearly to the base; rachis flexuous, winged, pinæ in from 5–8 pairs, mostly alternate, spreading, about one-third of an inch long, cut nearly to the rachis into 2–4 spreading, linear, forked or bilobate segments. Involucres terminating the segments, small, oval, 2-lipped nearly to the base; lips deeply toothed or jagged; receptacle included.

This interesting addition to our flora was discovered on mountains at the head of Lake Wakatipu by Mrs. Mason, of Queenstown, to whose kindness I am indebted for specimens.

In habit our plant closely resembles Trichomanes humile, but the frond is broader at the base, the pinnæ more divided and spreading. It has affinities with H. javanicum, Spreng., and might possibly be overlooked as a stunted condition of that species but for its different habit. In addition to the larger and more highly divided frond, H. javanicum is distinguished from the present species by its rounded involucres and crisped wings and segments. H. montanum is distinguished from other New Zealand species by its narrow involucres with deeply toothed or jagged tips; it is of membranous texture and of a dull green hue.

In old specimens the segments are slightly constricted immediately below the base of the involucre.

Plate XXI.—B.

1.

Hymenophyllum montanum, natural size.
2.

Fertile pinnæ, magnified.
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A. Hymenophyllum Armstroncll, Kirk
B. " Montanum, n.s..

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Art. LVII.—On Hymenophyllum villosum, Colenso.

By T. Kirk, F.L.S.

[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 12th January, 1878.]

This small species has long been a source of perplexity to fern collectors in this colony, by the majority of whom it has been mistaken for Hymeno-phyllum ciliatum, Swartz, a species of wide distribution, but only known in New Zealand from specimens collected in the Nelson district by Mr. Travers. H. villosum was originally discovered by Mr. Colenso in 1842, and described by him in the London Journal of Botany for 1844. Sir William J. Hooker, in “Species Filicum,” referred it to H. polyanthos, β. sanguinolentum, a view which has been adopted by Sir Joseph D. Hooker in his “Flora Novæ-Zelandiæ” and “Handbook of the New Zealand Flora.” It must, however, be regarded as a distinct species, having a wide subalpine and alpine range in New Zealand, although I am not aware of its occurrence elsewhere. I am glad to say that Mr. Baker, who has kindly compared my South Island specimens with those originally sent to Kew by Mr. Colenso, agrees with me as to its specific validity.

Hymenophyllum villosum.

Colenso in London Journal of Botany, vol. III., p. 35: Tasmanian Philosophical Journal, vol. II., p. 185.

Rhizome wiry, creeping. Stipes 1–2 inches long, narrowly winged or wingless, villous; frond 2–5 inches high, 1–2 inches broad, opaque, of a dull brownish-green; broadly ovate, or ovate-acuminate, tripinnate, villous; main rachis 1–3 inches long, narrowly winged, flexuose, villous; primary and secondary pinnæ deltoid; tertiary pinnæ twice or thrice divided into narrow linear forked segments. Sori terminal and axillary, free, orbicular, broader than the segments, 2—valved to the base; valves entire.

Hab. On rocks and trees in moist situations.

North Island: Ruatahuna—W. Colenso, 1842; summit of Tarawera (amongst moss), 4,000 feet—T. K.

South Island: Mountains of the Amuri, Nelson, 3,000–4,000 feet—T. K.; mountains above Broken River, Canterbury—J. D. Enys!; Upper Waimakariri and Arthur's Pass, 2,000–3,000 feet—J. D. Enys and T. Kirk; Ashburton—T. H. Potts!; the Routeburn and mountains above Lake Harris, Otago, 4,000 feet—T. K.

I have seen specimens from other parts of the South Island, but am ignorant of the precise localities in which they were collected. In all probability our plant is common throughout the colony at elevations above the highest limit of H. polyanthos, although but rarely occurring below.

The fronds of our plant are more highly divided than those of any other New Zealand species, and present, cspecially in small specimens, a peculiar

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crowded appearance, caused by the overlapping of the pinnæ and segments. In small specimens the rachis and stipes are often winged nearly to the base; in the circinate state the fronds are densely clothed with ferruginous hairs; fronds are occasionally found with the lowest pinnæ undeveloped, as in H. multifidum. In its most luxuriant state H. villosum is quadripinnate, and in habit resembles the European Trichomanes radicans, Swartz, when growing in moist situations.

The affinities of our plant are with H. polyanthos, Swartz, and H. demissum, Swartz; from the former it differs in possessing longer and narrower segments and terminal orbicular sori; it may readily be distinguished from the latter by its small size and orbicular involucres, which have entire lips and are broader than the segments. In colour, texture, and the presence of hairs, it approaches H. scabrum, A. Rich., and in the position of the sori and their relative breadth as compared with the segments, it resembles H. javanicum, Spreng. From all the species here named, except H. scabrum, it is distinguished by its villous character.

Mr. Colenso describes the involucres as “ovate,** pedicelled.” I find these characters only in small and imperfectly fruited specimens; the apparent pedicels are simply contracted segments.

Art. LVIII.—On Lindsaya viridis, Colenso.

By T. Kirk, F.L.S.

[Read before the Otago Institute, 17th January, 1878.]

This elegant fern was originally discovered at Mangarewa, in 1842, by Mr. Colenso, and described by him as Lindsœ viridis three years later, but owing to its having been referred to L. trichomanoides by Sir W. J. Hooker, in 1846, it is only after the lapse of thirty years that its specific validity has become recognized in Europe, although it is separated from its nearest allies by strongly marked differential characters. Without doubt this long neglect is in part owing to the rarity of the plant itself, for, although occurring in both islands, it is remarkably local, and for the most part its habitats are far apart. The few New Zealand botanists who have collected it are unanimous in their opinion as to its specific validity.

In the first edition of “Synopsis Filicum,” published in 1868, Mr. Baker separated our plant from L. trichomanoides and united it with the Australian L. microphylla, Swartz, but two years ago was led to reconsider the question through Wanganui specimens transmitted to Kew by Mr. H. C. Field, under the idea that it was still considered a form of L. trichomanoides. Mr. Baker adopted the view held by botanists in the colony and published our plant as

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a distinct species, under its original name, evidently without being aware that it was described by Mr. Colenso thirty years ago. I have, therefore, the greater pleasure in appending a description of the species, for the use of local botanists, that it affords me the opportunity of presenting the claims of its discoverer in their proper light.

Lindsaya viridis.

Lindsœa viridis.

Colenso, Filices Novæ Novæ Zelandiæ, p. 14 (1845); Tasmanian Journal, II., p. 174.

Lindsaya viridis, Colenso.

J. G. Baker in Journal of Botany (new series), IV., p. 108.

Lindsœ trichomanoides, Dryander (in part).

Hook., Species Filicum, I., p. 218; Hook. fil., Fl. Nov. Zel., II., p. 20: Handbook N.Z. Flora, p. 359.

Lindsaya microphylla, Swartz (in part).

J. G. Baker in Synopsis Filicum, edits. 1 and 2, p. 110.

Fronds tufted, 6–12 inches long, 1 inch wide, membranous, bright green, stipes 1–3 inches, triquetrous, channelled, shining, naked except a tuft of linear brown scales at the base, frond lanceolate, or lanceolate acuminate, bi- or tri-pinnate, rachis flexuous; pinnæ ascending, alternate, 1–1 ½ inch long, obliquely lanceolate, or rhomboid lanceolate; pinnules simple or deeply lobed, or cut to the base into 2–4 linear cuneate segments, margins truncate, erose, about a line deep and twice as broad; veins indistinct, simple or rarely branched.

Hab. On wet rocks.

North Island: Port Fitzroy, Great Barrier Island, plentiful about waterfalls—Mr. Springall! Manukau Harbour, dripping rocks at the Huia Creek, and waterfalls between the Huia and the sea—T.K. Te Whau—T.K. Mangarewa—Mr. Colenso. Wanganui River—H. C. Field!

South Island: Nelson, under high rocks in a deep ravine, Massacre Bay—Lyall. Canterbury—Sinclair and Haast. Hokitika—W. H. Tipler! West coast of Otago—J. Buchanan.

The Nelson and Canterbury habitats are stated by Mr. Baker in the “Journal of Botany,” on the authority of specimens in the Kew herbarium. I have reason to believe that the supposed Canterbury specimens were collected by Dr. Sinclair at the Huia, and accidentally misplaced, so that the habitat in question requires confirmation.

Our plant attains its greatest luxuriance on vertical dripping rocks where the fronds grow at a right angle to the face of the rock, and are narrower and more rigid than when growing on a horizontal surface. In the latter situation the fronds are radiating and drooping at the tips, with the pinnæ somewhat spreading, so that the frond is relatively wider. The finest

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specimens I have seen were growing on vertical dripping rocks at the Huia Creek; some of the fronds are fully sixteen inches long, but not quite so wide as shorter fronds of more lax habit grown on a horizontal surface at Port Fitzroy. In some places where it has the advantage of a continuous supply of moisture, it is exposed to the glare of the sun for a portion of the day, but with little appreciable effect on its delicate texture.

In an immature state this species may easily be mistaken for a Davallia from its narrow sori, which are never wider than twice their depth, and do not extend to the lateral margins of the segments. Mr. Baker points out that “the anterior valve is a continuation of the lamina, while the posterior valve is membranous, both alike incised.”

The affinities of Lindsaya viridis are with L. trichomanoides, Dryand., and L. microphylla, Swartz. The former differs from our plant in its creeping, chaffy rhizomes, broadly ovate coriaceous fronds, spreading, usually opposite pinnæ, and fan-shaped segments with branched veins; it is confined to forests, and extends from the North Cape to Dusky Bay. L. microphylla is confined to temperate Australia, and is distinguished from L. viridis by its larger size, more distant pinnæ, and the sori forming a continuous marginal line, the width being more than twice the depth. L. viridis is endemic in New Zealand. L. trichomanoides is found also in Tasmania, New South Wales, and Fiji.

Art. LIX.—On Nephrodium decompositum,. Br., and N. glabellum, A. Cunn.

By T. Kirk, F.L.S.

[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 1st December, 1877.]

In the “Hand-book of the New Zealand Flora” these plants are considered identical; in the “Flora Novæ-Zelandiæ,” the second is described as a variety of the first. They are, however, so easily recognized at sight that a singular unanimity of opinion prevails amongst New Zealand botanists in favour of their being considered specifically distinct. I purpose, therefore, briefly to examine the differential characteristics of the two plants.

In N. decompositum the rhizome is elongated, slender, more or less clothed with chaffy scales and the distant bases of old fronds; it is frequently branched and extensively creeping so that the plant often forms patches several yards in diameter. Fronds erect, solitary, distant never tufted or

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springing from the apex of the rhizome, usually from 12–24 inches in height. Stipes from half to two-thirds the length of the entire frond, clothed with scattered chaffy scales and fine pubescence, angular, channelled; the frond is from 7–10 inches wide with the apex elongated and the lowest pair of secondary pinnæ much developed, so that its general outline is pentangular acuminate; bi- or tri-pinnate, membranous, villous or pubescent; rachis slender; lowest pair of pinnæ much the largest, 5–7 inches long, 3–4 inches wide, obliquely deltoid; upper pinnules lanceolate, pinnate, or deeply pinnatifid, ultimate segments ovate or rhomboid ovate with acutely toothed lobes. Sori attached nearer the margin of the segment than the midrib.

In N. glabellum the rhizome is short, stout, densely clothed with the wiry bases of old fronds, unbranched. Fronds from 4–6 in number, tufted, springing from the apex of the rhizome and usually of less size than those of N. decompositum. Stipes always more than half the length of the entire frond, scaly at the base, naked above, reddish, channelled, from 7–10 inches long, 6–9 inches wide, deltoid, acuminate, twice or thrice pinnate, slightly coriaceous, glossy; lowest pair of pinnæ 4–5 inches long, 2–3 inches wide, less obliquely deltoid than in N. decompositum, with the basal pinnules much less developed, and rachis more prominently winged; segments pinnate or deeply pinnatifid, with the basal lobes overlapping so as to form a connected line on each side of the rachis of the lowest pinnæ; lobes obtusely toothed, veins prominent. Sori equi-distant between the margin of the segment and the midrib.

While freely admitting the close resemblance in the cutting and in the general outline of these plants, the essential differences indicated appear to me sufficient to warrant these plants being considered specifically distinct, but it is necessary to offer a few remarks on their nomenclature, which is somewhat confused, the specific name “glabellum” having been applied to both.

The earliest description of either is that of N. decomposition, by R. Brown, in his “Prodromus Floræ Novæ Hollandiæ,” p. 149 (1810). The next is that of N. glabellum, by Allan Cunningham, in Hooker's “Companion to the Botanical Magazine,” II., p. 367, and which is clearly the plant to which the name is now applied.

In the “Flora Novæ-Zelandiæ,” II., p. 39, under N. decompositum, Brown's plant is described and figured as var. a. glabellum, N. glabellum, Cunn. Although corrected by Sir W. J. Hooker, in “Species Filicum,” IV., p. 146, owing to the wide circulation of “Flora Novæ-Zelandiæ” the error has become generally circulated, and caused much confusion, especially in this colony.

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The following is the synonomy of each so far as known to me:—

Nephrodium decompositum.

Hooker fil., Fl. Tasmaniæ, II., p. 149; Brown, Prodromus Nov. Holl., p. 149; Baker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 281; Hook. f., Handbook N.Z. Fl., p. 378.

N. decompositum, a. glabellum, Hook. fil,. Fl. Nov. Zel., II., p. 39, t. 79 (not of Cunningham).

N. decompositum, a. macrophyllum, Hook., Sp. Filicum, IV., p. 146.

N. pentangularum, Colenso, Filices Novæ Novæ-Zelandiæ, p. 9 (1845).

Aspidium decompositum, Spreng., Syst. Veg., IV., p. 109; Mueller, Fragmenta Phytographiæ Australiæ, V., p. 136.

Aspidium microsorum, Endl., Flora Norfolk Island, p. 9.

A. shepherdi, Kunze, Linnæa, XXIII., p. 259.

A. acuminata, Lowe, Filices, p.—. t. 11.

Hab. New Zealand, common on the banks of rivers.

Australia, Tasmania, Norfolk Island.

Nephrodium glabellum.

A. Cunningham, Comp. Bot. Mag., II., p. 367; Metten. Aspid., p. 69.

Nephrodium decompositum, β. pubescens, Hook. f., Fl. Nov. Zel., II., p. 39.

N. decompositum, β. microphyllum, Hook., Sp. Filicum, IV., 146.

Lastrea davalloides, Brack., Filices U.S. Exploring Expedition, p. 202.

Hab. New Zealand, common in forests.

Australia, Tahiti, Fiji Islands.

Art. LX.—On the Botany of the Bluff Hill.

By T. Kirk, F.L.S.

[Read before the Otago Institute, 17th January, 1878.]

The isolated hill which guards the entrance to the Bluff Harbour has long been supposed to exhibit features of special interest to the botanist, but no one has even imagined that it possessed a rich or varied flora. It was therefore with no little surprise that I found it vying with the North Cape in botanical riches, which, although of a less showy character, were not less attractive.

My examination of the locality was restricted to some portion of the forest beyond the pilot station, and to parts of the hill within reach during a rambling ascent from the town to the flagstaff.

The Bluff Hill is a little under 900 feet in height, and rather less than two miles in diameter at its greatest width; its base is washed by the sea, except on the side which connects it with the promontory of which it forms the termination. It consists chiefly of syenite and clay-slates, the latter in many cases nearly vertical. The hollows and sides of the watercourses

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on the exposed portion are occupied by patches of swamp, but much of the surface vegetation has been destroyed by repeated burnings, so that at first sight it appears about as unfavourable a locality for rare plants as could well be imagined.

Its southern face is covered with forest, bearing a general resemblance to the Seaward forest; but differing in the reduced proportion of matai and iron-wood, and in the diminished luxuriance caused by exposure, elevation, and soil.

The chief timber trees are the kamai (Weinmannia racemosa), rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum), miro (Podocarpus ferruginea), and iron-wood (Metrosideros lucida); of these the kamai is the most abundant; many specimens rival in size and luxuriance the finest to be seen in the Seaward forest, although in most cases they are of less dimensions.

A dense growth of Olearia nitida, Veronica elliptica, Aristotelia fruticosa and other shrubs is found at the sea margin, and gives shelter to a number of ferns and herbaceous plants, the most noteworthy of the former being Lomaria dura, which, like its near ally L. banksii, never grows far out of reach of the sea spray. On the outskirts of the forest the trees are much shorn and stunted by the wind: the largest trees occur in the hollows and sheltered places, still serviceable timber is found near the summit. Although the yield of timber per acre is very small when compared with the best parts of the sheltered forest on the downs, it would be more durable in quality.

A few cattle have access to the forest, but no great amount of injury has resulted from this cause at present. In all directions young trees were plentiful, from seedlings upwards, showing that a continuous process of renewal is taking place.

The underwood and the herbaceous vegetation exhibited the greatest luxuriance of growth; some of the leaves of the tataramoa (Rubus australis) were the largest I ever saw. Chiloglottis cornuta, an orchidaceous plant growing in several localities from Omaha to the Chatham and Auckland Islands, but remarkably local, exhibited a stout, robust habit quite new to me. Juncus nova-zelandica attains an extraordinary size, and exhibits a marked contrast to the ordinary specimens found on the open side of the hill. In sheltered places near the summit Cyathodes acerosa assumes a free growing luxuriant habit not frequent even in the north, and, with its profuse display of white and red fruit, presents a most attractive appearance. This remarkably luxuriant growth of the shrubby and herbaceous vegetation was evident wherever shelter could be obtained from the direct action of the wind, and must be chiefly attributed to the great amount of moisture constantly present in the atmosphere, and which is prevented from becoming injurious by the frequent high winds.

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Ascending the hill direct from the town, but diverging widely from the beaten track, the first plant collected of special interest was Juncus lampro-carpus, a recent addition to our flora. Stunted specimens of Carpha alpina were observed at less than twenty yards above the sea-level. Gratiola nana occurred in several spots, and on swampy ground Drosera spathulata was abundant. On a patch of peaty soil at no great elevation the rarest of the New Zealand sun-dews, Drosera pygmœa, occurred sparingly. It is a minute plant, not more than half an inch across, and from its grey tinge may easily be passed over. It was originally discovered by Mr. Colenso at Cape Maria van Diemen nearly forty years ago, and hitherto has not been observed elsewhere in the colony, although in Tasmania and Australia it has a wide distribution in littoral situations. There can be no doubt that its minute size and insignificant appearance have caused it to be overlooked in New Zealand.

The alpine Carex cataractœ was observed at a low elevation associated with the white-flowered Mimulus radicans and small plants of Schœnus axillaris, not previously recorded from the South Island. Hydrocotyle muscosa and Eleocharis gracillima were found in swampy situations. Thelymitra uniflora waved its graceful purple flowers on peaty ground below the summit, sheltering its near ally Caladenia bifolia. Callixene parviflora with its attractive waxy flowers and fruit covered the surface, in some places intermixed with Herpolirion novœ-zelandiœ. A new species of Haloragis, recently described as H. uniflora, often formed a dense sward; the plant is readily distinguished from its allies by the solitary terminal flower. Marshy spots were occupied by Oreobolus pumilio with the characteristic mountain plant Cyathodes empetrifolia attaining great luxuriance on the drier ground.

Isolepis cartilaginea, a species of remarkably local distribution, occurred in one or two places, and a small species, doubtfully referred to I. fluitans for the present, was found in plashy spots near the summit.

The limited time at my command only allowed me to examine the restricted portions of the Bluff Hill already mentioned, but the results of my investigation warrant the inference that one-fourth of the entire phænogamic and fern flora of the colony may be collected here by a diligent investigator—an unusually high proportion to be found on such a small area and under many unfavourable conditions.

The adjacent Seaward forest is not nearly so rich in species as the Bluff Hill although its general growth is more luxuriant. This wealth of species in the latter locality must be attributed to the continuous supply of moisture present in an atmosphere frequently agitated by high winds and to the greater variety of soil and situation.

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Only twenty-three species of naturalized plants were collected—a paucity which contrasts strongly with their abundance in the North Island. None of the species observed call for special remark.

The following are the most interesting of the indigenous species:—

Melicytus lanceolatus, Hook. f. Long supposed to be peculiar to the north, but is now found throughout the colony, although often local.

Drosera pygmœa, DC. A minute rosulate plant with numerous filiform one-flowered scapes, and a silvery cone in the centre, covering a hybernating bud. The cone is formed by the interlaced, laciniate, scarious stipules. The apparent distribution of this plant in New Zealand is most peculiar—a single habitat at the north-western extremity of the colony and another in the extreme south.

Haloragis uniflora, T. Kirk. On peaty ground below the summit.

Stylidium subulatum, Hook. f. Plentiful on peaty ground just below the summit: one or two plants were observed at less than twenty yards above sea-level.

Rumex neglectus, T. Kirk. Beyond the Pilot Station.

Caladenia bifolia, Hook. f. In the forest and on peaty ground near the summit; leaves varying greatly in size and shape.

Chiloglottis cornuta, Hook. f. Abundant in the forest and of large size.

Prasophyllum nudum, Hook. f. Open places near the summit.

Juncus lamprocarpus, Ehrh.

Isolepis cartilaginea, Br.

Lomaria dura, Moore.

Abundant in wooded rocky places by the sea.

Catalogue of Phœnogamic Plants and Ferns observed on the Bluff Hill,
1st January, 1877.

Note.—Naturalized plants are marked with an asterisk.

Ranunculaceæ.

Clematis hexasepala, Hook. f.

Ranunculus hirtus, Banks and Sol.

rivularis, Banks and Sol.

Magnoliaceæ.

Drimys colorata, Raoul.

Cruciferæ.

Nasturtium palustre, DC.

Cardamine hirsuta, L.

Violarieæ.

Viola cunninghamii, Hook. f.

Melicytus ramiflorus, Forst.

lanceolatus, Hook. f.

Pittosporæ.

Stellaria parviflora, Banks and Sol.

* media, With.

Colobanthus billardieri, Fenzl.

* Sagina procumbens, L.

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Hypericineæ.

Hypericum japonicum, Thunb.

Tiliaceæ.

Aristotelia racemosa, Hook. f.

Geraniaceæ.

Geranium dissectum, L., var. carolinianum.

microphyllum, Hook. f.

sessiliflorum, Car.

molle, L.

Coriarieæ.

Coriaria ruscifolia, L.

Leguminosæ.

* Ulex europœus, L.

* Trifolium repens, L.

* minus, Sm.

Rosaceæ.

Rubus australis, Forst.

Potentilla anserina, L.

Acœna sanguisorbœ, Vahl.

Saxifrageæ

Carpodetus serratus, Forst.

Weinmannia racemosa, Forst.

Crassulaceæ.

Tillœa moschata, DC.

Droseraceæ.

Drosera pygmœa, DC.

spathulata, Labill.

binata, Labill.

Halorageæ.

Haloragis alata, Jacq.

depressa, Hook. f.

uniflora, T. Kirk.

micrantha, Br.

Myriophyllum pedunculatum, Hook. f.

Gunnera monoica, Raoul.

Myrtaceæ.

Leptospermum scoparium, Forst.

Metrosideros lucida, Menzies.

hypericifolia, A. Cunn.

Onagrarieæ.

Fuchsia excorticata, L. fil.

colensoi, Hook. f.

Epilobium alsinoides, A. Cunn.

tetragonum, L.

Glossostigma elatinoides, A. Cunn.

Umbelliferæ.

Hydrocotyle asiatica, L.

americana, L.

muscosa, Br.

Umbelliferæ.—continued.

Hydrocotyde moschata, Forst.

microphylla, A. Cunn.

Crantzia lineata, Nuttall.

Apium filiforme, Hook.

Oreomyrrhis colensoi, Hook. f.

Araliaceæ.

Panax simplex, Forst.

edgerleyi, Hook. f.

crassifolium, Dene. and Planch.

Corneæ.

Griselinia littoralis, Raoul.

Rubiaceæ.

Coprosma rotundifolia, A. Cunn.

divaricata, A. Cunn.

tenuicaulis, Hook. f.

fœtidissima, Forst.

Nertera depressa, Banks and Sol.

Galium umbrosum, Forst.

Asperula perpusilla, Hook. f.

Compositæ.

Olearia nitida, Hook. f.

Celmisia longifolia, Cass.

Lagenophora forsteri, DC.

petiolata, Hook f.

* Bellis perennis, L.

* " " Mitchen, flowered variety.

* Anthemis arvensis, L.

* nobilis, L.

Cotula coronopifolia, L.

dioica, Hook. f.

Cassinia vauvilliersii, Hook. f.

Gnaphalium bellidioides, Hook. f.

trinerve, Forst.

filicaule, Hook. f.

luteo-album, L.

involucratum, Forst.

collinum, Labill.

Microseris forsteri, Hook. f.

* Hypochœris radicata, L.

Taraxacum dens-leonis, Desf. The indigenous and naturalized forms are both found.

Sonchus oleraceus, L.

Stylidieæ.

Stylidium subulatum, Hook. f.

Campanulaceæ.

Wahlenbergia gracilis, A. Rich.

Pratia angulata, Hook. f.

Selliera radicans, Car.

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Ericeæ.

Gaultheria rupestris, Br.

Cyathodes acerosa, Br.

empetrifolia, Hook. f.

Leucopogon fraseri, A. Cunn.

Dracophyllum urvilleanum, A. Rich.

Myrsineæ.

Myrsine urvillei, A. DC.

Primulaceæ.

* Anagallis arvensis, L.

Samolus repens, Pers.

Apocyneæ.

Parsonsia albiflora, Raoul.

Gentianeæ.

Gentiana saxosa, Forst.

Convolvulaceæ.

Convolvolus tuguriorum, Forst.

Dichondra repens, Forst.

β. brevifolia.

Scrophularineæ.

Mimulus radicans, Hook. f.

Gratiola nana, Bentham.

Veronica salicifolia, Hook. f.

elliptica, Forst.

Labiatæ.

Mentha cunninghamii, Benth.

Plantagineæ.

* Plantago major, L.

* lanceolata, L.

*raoulli, Dec.

Paronychieæ.

Scleranthus biflorus, Hook. f.

Polygoneæ.

Polygonum aviculare, L.

Muhlenbeckia complexa, Meisn.

Rumex flexuosus, Forst.

neglectus, T. Kirk.

* viridis, Sibth.

* acetosella, L.

Thymeleæ.

Pimelea prostrata, Vahl.

Coniferæ.

Podocarpus ferruginea, Don.

Dacrydium cupressinum, Sol.

Orchideæ.

Gastrodia cunninghamii, Hook. f.

Caladenia bifolia, Hook. f.

Pterostylis banksii, Br. β.

Chiloglottis cornuta, Hook. f.

longifolia, Forst.

Orchideæ.—continued.

Thelymitra uniflora, Hook. f.

Prasophyllum nudum, Hook. f.

pumilum, Hook. f. (?)

Specimens imperfect.

Irideæ.

* Iris germanica, L.

Libertia ixioides, Spreng.

Naiadeæ.

Triglochin triandrum, Mich.

Potamogeton “natans,” L.

Liliaceæ.

Rhipogonum scandens, Forst.

Callixene parviflora, Hook. f.

Dianella intermedia, Endl.

Astelia grandis, Hook. f.

Herpolirion novœ-zelandiœ, Hook. f.

Junceæ.

Juncus australis, Hook. f.

communis, E. Meyer.

β. hexasepalus.

lamprocarpus, Ehrh. var.

bufonius, L.

novœ-zelandiœ, Hook. f.

Luzula campestris, DC., var. congesta.

Restiaceæ.

Leptocarpus simplex, A. Rich.

Cyperaceæ.

Schœnus axillaris, Hook. f.

Carpha alpina, Br.

Eleocharis acuta, Br., var. platylepis. gracillima, Hook. f.

Isolepis nodosa, Br.

prolifer, Br.

riparia, Br.

cartilaginea, Br.

fluitans, Br. (?)

Specimens imperfect, and identification consequently uncertain.

Lepidosperma tetragona, Labill.

Oreobolus pumilio, Br.

Uncinia australis, Pers.

rupestris, Raoul.

banksii, Boott.

Carex virgata, Sol.

β. secta.

ternaria, Forst.

lucida, Boott.

cataractœ, Br.

breviculmis, Br.

trifida, Cavanilles.

– 406 –

Gramineæ.

* Anthoxanthum odoratum, L.

Hierochloe redolens, Br.

Agrostis œmula, Br.

quadriseta, Br.

conspicua, Forst.

Dichelachne crinita, Hook. f.

Danthonia semi-annularis, Br.

* Holcus mollis, L.

* Aira caryophyllea, L.

Poa breviglumis, Hook. f.

* annua, L.

* pratensis, L.

australis, Br., var. lœvis.

colensoi, Hook. f.

* Lolium perenne, L.

Filices.

Gleichenia circinata, Swartz, β. hecistophylla.

Hemitelia smithii, Hook. f.

Dicksonia squarrosa, Swartz.

antarctica, Br., var. fibrosa.

Hymenophyllum tunbridgense, Sm.

rarum, Br.

dilatatum, Swartz.

polyanthos, Swartz, var. sanguinolentum.

Filices.—continued.

Hymenophyllum demissum, Swartz.

scabrum, A. Rich.

flabellatum, Labill.

Hypolepis tenuifolia, Bernh.

Pteris aquilina L., var. esculenta.

scaberula, A. Rich.

incisa, Thunb.

Lomaria procera, Spreng.

fluviatilis, Spreng.

discolor, Willd.

alpina, Spreng.

dura, Moore.

banksii, Hook f.

Asplenium obtusatum, Forst., var. lyallii.

falcatum, Lam.

bulbiferum, Forst.

flaccidum, Forst.

Aspidium aculeatum, Swartz, var. vestitum.

capense, Willd.

Nephrodium hispidum, Hook.

Polypodium rugulosum, Labill.

billardieri, Br.

Lycopodiaceæ.

Tmesipteris forsteri, Endl.

Art. LXI.—Contributions to the Botany of Otago.

By T. Kirk, F.L.S.

[Read before the Otago Institute, 17th January, 1878.]

With the exception of three or four species mentioned to indicate an extension of their range of distribution, the following plants have not been enumerated in any previous contribution to our knowledge of the flora of Otago.* Most of them were observed during hasty visits to portions of the district in the winter of 1874 and the summer of 1876–7, both under circumstances which prevented my paying more than cursory attention to purely botanical subjects. A few species are mentioned on the authority of the “Handbook of the New Zealand Flora,” and others on the authority of

[Footnote] * For a Sketch of the Botany of Otago, by J. Buchanan, see Trans. N.Z. Inst., I., p. 22. On Plants collected near Invercargill, by J. S. Webb, V., p. 360. Notes on Otago Plants, by G. M. Thomson, IX., p. 538.

[Footnote] See also Contributions to New Zealand Botany, by W. Lauder Lindsay, M.D., etc.; London, 1868.

– 407 –

specimens communicated by Mr. D. Petrie and Mr. G. M. Thomson, to whom I have great pleasure in expressing my thanks.

The chief interest of the following list consists in the corrected views it affords of the relative proportion of Glumiferœ, especially of the cyperaceous section, to other phænogams in the south; the Gramineœ are increased one-fourth and the Cyperaceœ nearly doubled as compared with Mr. Buchanan's Catalogue, in which the latter form less than one-twentieth of the entire number of flowering plants, a striking contrast to the ordinary proportion in the North Island which is one-tenth. The present list shows that the actual proportion in Otago is one-thirteenth, and that the small disparity which really exists is chiefly due to the deficiency in Cladium and Schœnus, which, although abundant in the north, are represented in Otago by a single species of the former and two of the latter. On the other hand all the New Zealand Carices are found in Otago with the exception of C. chlorantha, Br., C. colensoi, Hook. f., and C. stellulata, Good.; the last two will certainly be found within the district, but the first is restricted to the North Island where it is very local.

I hope to consider the chief points of interest in the distribution of Otago plants in a future paper.

It is a subject for regret that we know so little of the flora of Stewart Island and the Snares, which exhibit features of great importance. Little as we know of both, the flora of Stewart Island shows a connection between the peculiar plants of the south-west coast of Otago on one side, and those of the Chatham Islands on the other—while that of the Snares shows a connection with the Auckland Islands and the Chathams, apparently more close than that with the nearest portion of the main land. I venture to suggest to the members of the Otago Institute the propriety of making arrangements for the systematic investigation of the flora and fauna of these little known portions of their district.

Ranunculaceæ.

Clematis hexasepala, DC. Bluff Harbour.

afoliata, Buch. Waitaki Valley—J. Buchanan.

Ranunculus hirtus—Banks and Sol.

β. supinus. Valley of the Dart.

ternatifolius, T. Kirk. R. trilobatus, “Trans. N.Z.I.,” p. 547, not of Kit. Catlin River.

nanus, Hook. Otago—J. Buchanan! D. Petrie! Above Lake Harris—T.K.

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Cruciferæ.

Lepidium incisum, Banks and Sol. A doubtful plant, with numerous slender, prostrate leaflets, branched stems referred to this species for the present. First observed by Mr. Petrie. Cape Whybrow.

Violarieæ.

Melicytus micranthus, Hook. f. Near Dunedin.

Tilaceæ.

Aristotelia “erecta,” Buch. Lake district; Wyndham. 800–1,200 feet—J. Buchanan. I have not seen specimens of this plant.

Stackhousieæ.

Stackhousia minima, Hook. f. Waipori—D. Petrie!

Leguminosæ.

Carmichœlia munroi, Hook, f. Near Cromwell—Captain J. Campbell- Walker; Cardrona Valley—T. K. Fruiting specimens only.

pilosa, Col. Mr. Petrie has sent Otago specimens apparently belonging to this species, but without locality.

flagelliformis, Col. A remarkable plant, which may possibly prove to be a form of this species, was obtained in the Cardrona Valley. It was characterized by long flexuous branches, numerous trifoliolate leaves with deeply-notched leaflets, and large fruit fully ½ inch in length, with a long straight beak.

Rosaceæ.

Acœna glabra, Buch. Valley of the Dart.

A. inermis, Hook. f. Lake Wakatipu; Valley of the Dart, etc.; Lake Hawea.

A. depressa, T. Kirk. Cardrona Valley; Lake Hawea.

Droseraceæ.

Drosera pygmœa, DC. Bluff Hill.

Halorageæ.

Haloragis uniflora, T. Kirk. Bluff Hill. H. tenuissima of Mr. Thomson's list (not of T. Kirk) must be referred here.

Myriophyllum pedunculatum, Hook. f. Bluff Hill—T. Kirk; Stewart Island—G. M. Thomson!

Onagrarieæ.

Fuchsia colensoi, Hook. f. Oamaru; Bluff Harbour.

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Umbelliferæ.

Pozoa haasti, Hook. f. Mountains above Lake Harris, 4,000 feet.

Oreomyrrhis colensoi, Hook. f. Bluff Harbour.

Ligusticum filifolium, Hook. f. Mountains above Lake Harris.

intermedium, Hook. f. Chasland's Mistake—D. Petrie!

Corneæ.

Griselinia lucida, Forster. Dusky Bay, Chalky Bay—Handbook; Catlin River—Lindsay.

Loranthaceæ.

Loranthus decussatus, T. Kirk. Valley of the Dart.

Rubiaceæ.

Coprosma serrulata, Hook. f. Mountains above Lake Harris.

repens, Hook. f. Mountains above Lake Harris.

Compositæ.

Olearia angustifolia, Hook. f. Stewart Island—Handbook N.Z. Flora.

lyallii, Hook. f. Living plants apparently belonging to this fine species have been obtained from the Snares by Captain Johnson and presented to the Botanic Gardens, Wellington. They vary considerably in the size and shape of the leaves, and in the marginal toothing, some leaves having the doubly serrate margin of O. colensoi, while others on the same plant are almost crenate, or obscurely toothed.

Celmisia discolor, Hook. f. Mountains above Lake Harris.

verbascifolia, Hook. f. Horse Ranges—J. C. Webb!

spectabilis, Hook. f. Above Lake Harris; Cardrona Range.

bellidioides, Hook. f. Near Lake Harris.

glandulosa, Hook. f. With the above.

walkeri, T. Kirk. Mountains above Lake Harris.

Brachycome odorata, Hook. f. A doubtful plant, characterized by its flaccid membranous leaves, scapes leafy at the base, is referred to this species for the present. Cape Whybrow—T. K.; near Dunedin—D. Petrie! Stewart Island—G. M. Thomson!

pinnata, Hook. f. Stewart Island—Handbook.

Cotula minor, Hook. f. The Bluff and other places.

Raoulia munroi, Hook f. Near Dunedin—Dr. Lindsay, J. Buchanan!

petriensis, T. Kirk. Mount St. Bathans—D. Petrie!

Senecio robusta, J. Buch. Mount Eglinton—J. Morton! mountains above Lake Harris—T. K.; mountains near the Greenstone—J. Buchanan.

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Stylidieæ.

Stylidium subulatum, Hook. f. The Bluff Hill—T. K.; Flagstaff Hill, Dunedin—J. Buchanan.

Campanulaceæ.

Pratia angulata, Hook. f., var. arenaria. Catlin River.

Ericeæ.

Archeria traversii, Hook. f., var. australis. Common on the west coast of Otago—Handbook.

Boragineæ.

Myosotidium nobile, Hook. On the Snares, abundant; leaves sometimes 2 feet in diameter—H. Armstrong; Cruise of the Amherst, 1868. See “Trans. N.Z. Inst.,” II., p. 176.

Solaneæ.

Solamum nigrum, Linn. Lake Hawea.

Scrophularineæ.

Gratiola nana, Benth. The Bluff Hill—T. K.; McRae's Diggings—D. Petrie! Glossostigma elatinoides, Benth. The Bluff Harbour.

Veronica pimeleoides, Hook. f. Waitaki—J. Kidd.

macrantha, Hook. f. Mountains above Lake Harris.

canescens, T. Kirk. Oamaru—J. Buchanan!

Euphrasia repens, Hook. f. Bluff Island—Handbook.

Plantagineæ.

Plantago spathulata, Hook. f. Near Invercargill—J. S. Webb!

brownii, Rapin. Mountains above Lake Harris. The Otago plant is nearly glabrous, and in several respects approaches the Auckland Island form, figured on table 43 “Flora Antarctica,” I., more closely than specimens from any other locality.

Chenopodiaceæ.

Chenopodium detestans, Kirk. Cultivated land near the outlet of Lake Wanaka.

Atriplex patula, L. Abundant on disturbed silt, Cape Whybrow.

Salsola kali, L. Ida Valley—D. Petrie! The Otago plant is less robust than the Australian form naturalized on the banks of the Waitemata, and, from its occurrence in company with Chenopodium pusillum in this remarkable inland locality, must be considered indigenous. Both plants are usually littoral, but are found in inland localities marking the site of ancient sea margins or exhausted brine springs.

– 411 –

Polygoneæ.

Rumex neglectus, T. Kirk. West Coast of Otago—J. Buchanan! Bluff Harbour—T.K.

Thymeleæ.

Pimelea virgata, Vahl. A remarkable form, white, with a dense covering of silky hairs on the leaves, is plentiful on the Cardrona range.

lyallii, Hook. f. Descends to the sea-level at Chasland's Mistake—D. Petrie!

Santalaceæ.

Exocarpus bidwillii, Hook. f. Bed of the Waitaki—Handbook.

Cupuliferæ.

Fagus cliffortioides, Hook. f. Valley of the Dart. The spray of this species more closely resembles that of the European beech, F. sylvatica, than the other New Zealand species.

Cooniferæ.

Libocedrus bidwillii, Hook. f. Near Dunedin, etc. This is doubtless the L. doniana of Mr. Buchanan's Catalogue of Otago Plants.

Dacrydium bidwillii, Hook. f.

α.

β.

West Coast of Otago—Dr. Hector!

Orchideæ.

Chiloglottis cornuta, Hook. f. The Bluff Hill.

Prasophyllum pumilum, Hook. f. Several imperfect specimens collected on the Bluff Hill appear identical with this species.

nudum, Hook. f. Mountains above Lake Harris; the Bluff Hill, etc.

Naiadeæ.

Potamogeton oblongus, Vir. Near Invercargill—J. S. Webb.

P. pectinatus, L. Waihola Lake.

Liliaceæ.

Astelia grandis, Hook. f. This is in part the A. nervosa of Mr. Buchanan's Catalogue.

[A. banksii, A. Cunn. Plants in the Dunedin Botanic Garden are said to have been found on “cliffs, near Dunedin,” but the alleged habitat is extremely improbable and requires examination.]

Junceæ.

Juncus lamprocarpus, Ehr. Plentiful about Invercargill; Bluff.

β. Ditches near Kew railway station.

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Cyperaceæ.

Schœnus axillaris, Hook f. The Bluff Hill.

Eleocharis sphacelata, Br. Bluff Island—Lyall, “Handbook.” This habitat requires confirmation; the nearest authenticated habitat is in the Taupo country—fully 600 miles distant.

acuta, Br., var. platylepis. E. gracilis of Mr. Buchanan's list, and of Fl. N.Z., not of Brown.

gracillima, Hook. f. Bluff Harbour, etc.

Isolepis cartilaginea, Br. The Bluff Hill.

fluitans, R. Br. Imperfect specimens from the Bluff Hill appear to be identical with this species.

Gahnia setifolia, Hook. f. Lake Wakatipu, etc.

Lepidosperma tetragona, Labill. Bluff Harbour.

Uncìnia sinclairii, Boott. Valley of the Dart.

australis, Pers. Lake Wakatipu, etc.

rupestris, Raoul. Bluff Harbour.

filiformis, Boott. Routeburn.

banksii, Boott. Bluff Harbour.

Carex pyrenaica, Wahl., var. Mountains of Otago—J. Buchanan.

acicularis, Boott. Wet rocks on the ascent to Lake Harris.

inversa, Br. Valley of the Dart.

debilis, M. S. Mountains above Lake Harris.

virgata, Sol., var. secta. Oamaru.

appressa, Br. Milford Sound—Dr. Hector.

subdola, Boott. Lake Wakatipu, etc.

breviculmis, Br. The Bluff Hill.

neesiana, Endl. Catlin River.

dissita, Soland. Catlin River.

Gramineæ.

Microlœna stipoides, Br. In a single locality near Oamaru—perhaps a recent introduction. It is, however, certainly native to Westland.

avenacea, Hook. f. Lake Wakatipu.

Apera arundinacea, Hook. f. Water of Leith, etc.

Agrostis canina, L., var. subulata. Lake Wanaka, etc.

billardieri, Br. Cape Whybrow.

Arundo “fuloida,” Buch. Mataura River—J. Buchanan.

Danthonia flavescens, Hook. f. Southland.

Gryceria stricta, Hook. f. Moeraki, and other places on the east coast; Dunedin, etc.

Poa imbecilla, Forst. Balclutha, etc.

Festuca littoralis, Br. Near Cape Whybrow.

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Filices.

Alsophila colensoi, Hook. f. Hills about Dunedin; Lake Wakatipu; Catlin River; Seafield Bush. Trunk sometimes 7 feet high.

Hymenophyllum montanum, T. Kirk. Mountains above Lake Wakatipu—Mrs. Mason!

villosum, Col. Routeburne; mountains above Lake Harris.

Davallia fosteri, Carruth. Dusky Bay—Forster. “Synopsis Filicum,” edit.

2. This species is only known from Forster's original specimen in the British Museum.

Lindsaya viridis, Col. West Coast—J. Buchanan.

Lomaria dura, Moore. West Coast Sounds—J. D. Enys! Catlin River—D. Purdie and P. Thompson! Bluff Hill—T. Kirk. In situations exposed to the spray of the sea.

Lycopodiaceæ.

Lycopodium laterale, Brown. Stewart Island—Mrs. Pearson!

Corrigenda.

Panax lessonii, DC. Said to occur on the west coast of Otago, but it is to be feared that some mistake has been made. The plant appears to be confined to the Auckland district.

Pimelea urvilleana, A. Rich. Mentioned in Mr. Buchanan's list, but I greatly fear that some other species has been mistaken for it.

Potamogeton heterophyllus, Schreber. Included in the lists of Mr. Buchanan and Dr. Lindsay, but must be expunged as it is not a New Zealand plant. Young states of the so-called “P. natans” which developes copious submerged leaves have been mistaken for it throughout the colony.

Dichelachne stipoides, Hook. f. Included in Mr. Buchanan's list, but the precise locality forgotten. It is a northern plant finding its southern boundary at the East Cape, and is, at best, of extremely improbable occurrence in any part of the South Island.

Lomaria pumila, Raoul. Mr. Buchanan informs me that he mistook a small form of L. membranacea, Colenso, for this species. It is, however, not unlikely to occur on the west coast.

– 414 –

The following species may be expected to occur in the district, and should be carefully sought for:—

Olearia forsteri, Hook. f. Gahnia hectori, T. Kirk.

Celmisia munroi, Hook. f. ebenocarpa, Hook. f.

Lobelia anceps, Thunb. rigida, T. Kirk.

Dacrydium westlandicum, T. Kirk. Uncinia leptostachya, Raoul.

Cordyline banksii, Hook. f. Carex colensoi, Boott.

Astelia linearis, Hook. f. stellulata, Good.

Phormium colensoi, Hook. f. Spinifex hirsutus, Labill.

Cladium glomeratum, Br. Zoysia pungens, Willd.

junceum, Br. Bromus arenarius, Labill.

Naturalized Plants*

Ranunculaceæ.

Ranunculus bulbosus, L. Oamaru, etc.

Papaveraceæ.

Eschscholtzia californica, Cham. Shingly shores of Lake Hawea.

Fumariaceæ.

Fumaria muralis Sond. Dunedin, etc.

Cruciferæ.

Barbarea prœcox, Br. Dunedin; Invercargill; Moeraki.

Sisymbrium officinale, L.

Capsella bursa-pastoris, DC.

Senebiera coronopus, Poiret.

didyma, Persoon.

Lepidium ruderale, L. Common by roadsides, etc. This is probably the L. campestre of Mr. Thomson's list, a species only found in cultivated land.

smithii, Hook. Roadsides, Bendigo.

Caryophylleæ

Dianthus barbatus, L. On the sites of abandoned gardens.

Silene quinquevulnera, L. Not unfrequent; probably the S. gallica of Mr. Thomson's list.

Stellaria graminea, L. Otago—D. Petrie!

Arenaria serpyllifolia, L. Otago—D. Petrie.

Sagina procumbens, L. Near Invercargill; Bluff Harbour.

Polycarpon tetraphyllum, L. Oamaru.

Spergula arvensis, L.

[Footnote] * See Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. VII., 370.

– 415 –

Malvaceæ.

Malva rotundifolia, L.

Lavatera arborea, L. Oamaru.

Geraniaceæ.

Erodium cicutarium, L.

Leguminosæ

Medicago denticulata, Willd. Dunedin; Moeraki.

Melilotus officinalis, L.

Trifolium procumbens, L.

Vicia hirsuta, Koch. Oamaru, etc.

sativa, L.

angustifolia, Roth.

Rosaceæ.

Acœna ovina, A. Cunn. Otago—G. M. Thomson!

Umbelliferæ.

Fœniculum vulgare, Gærtn. Dunedin, etc.

Compositæ.

Madia sativa, DC. About three miles from Balclutha, by Mataura-road. Our plant is the M. viscosa, Car.

Anthemis arvensis, L.

Matricaria inodora, L.

Senecio sylvaticus, L. Cardrona Valley; near Queenstown.

Lapsana communis, L.

Hypochœris radicata, L.

Helminthia, echioides, Gærtn.

Thrincia hirta, L.

Gentianeæ.

Erythrœa centaurium, Pers. Oamaru.

Polemoniaceæ.

Collomia grandiflora, Daug. Queenstown; Cardrona.

Navarretia squarrosa, Hook. and Arn. In profusion by the coach-road between Elbow and Kingstown; between Queenstown and Lake Hawea.

Boragineæ.

Myosotis strigulosa, Reich. Otago—D. M. Petrie!

Solaneæ.

Lycium barbarum, L. Balclutha; Invercargill, etc.

– 416 –

Scrophularineæ.

Verbascum thapsus, L.

Mimulus luteus, L. Dunedin; Invercargill, etc.

moschatus, Daug. Hills above Water of Leith, Dunedin; between Elbow and Lowther, etc.

Veronica arvensis, L.

agrestis, L.

buxbaumii, Ten. Near Balclutha.

Bartsia viscosa, L. Otago—G. M. Thomson!

Verbenaceæ.

Verbena officinalis, L. Balclutha; Mataura, etc.

Labiateæ.

Stachys arvensis, L.

Marrubium vulgare, L.

Prunella vulgaris, L. Mr. Thomson informs me that this is the Ajuga reptans of his list of naturalized plants.

Polygoneæ.

Rumex viridis, Sibth.

obtusifolius, L.

Chenopodiaceæ.

Chenopodium album, L.

viride, L.

botrys, L. Otago—D. Petrie!

Atriplex angustifolia, Huds. Cardrona, etc.

erecta, Sm. Otago—D. Petrie!

Hydrocharideæ.

Anacharis canadensis, Planch. Professor Coughtrey informed me that he had seen a fragment of this plant floating in water near Cromwell.

Irideæ.

Iris germanica, L. Bluff Harbour.

Gramineæ.

Phalaris canariensis, L.

Agrostis alba, L., β. stolonifera.

Aira caryophyllea, L.

Briza minor, L.

Cynosurus cristatus, L. Palmerston.

Festuca sciuroides, Roth. Horse Ranges; Palmerston, etc.

– 417 –

Bromus sterilis, L.

racemosus, Parl. Dunedin, etc.

unioloides, Humb.

Lolium temulentum, L.

Hordeum murinum, L. Dunedin; Invercargill etc.

Art. LXII.—Notes on three dried Specimens of Matai (Podocarpus spicata.

By T. Kirk, F.L.S.

[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 4th August, 1877.]

These specimens were handed to me for examination by Captain J. Campbell-Walker, F.R.G.S., who received them from A. P. Seymour, Esq., M.H.R.

1. Pelorus Valley.—“Large tree over 4 feet diameter; sapwood ¾ inch. Difference between heart and sap clearly marked. Cut down March 20th, gathered April 12th. No fruit on it. This timber is very hard, heavy, and durable in ground,—the best of its class. I would use it for posts without hesitation.”

This specimen was taken from a mature pistillate tree and exhibits numerous young fruit. The durability of the timber is due to its maturity, as evidenced by the large size and small quantity of sap.

2. Locality not stated.—“Wood very pale red; 3 inches of sap; line between heart and sap not at all distinctly marked; tree 18 inches diameter; cut April 1st; fruit on it sparsely scattered. This wood is very inferior; prey to large white grubs; gathered April 12th, 1877.”

Taken from a young (pistillate) tree as shown by the comparatively small diameter and large proportion of indeterminate sap-wood, amounting to one-third of the entire diameter, so that the inferiority of the timber is easily accounted for.

Matai timber of all ages is liable to the attacks of larvæ, more especially when cut during the growing season; young timber to a greater degree than old.

3. Pelorus Valley.—“Three feet diameter; cut about April 1st; timber red, not very dark; sap 2.½ inches thick; difference between sap and heart not well marked. This in my opinion is inferior. I would not use it for posts. Gathered April 12th. No fruit on tree.”

The specimen was taken from a staminate tree, the timber of which, judging from the large amount of indeterminate sap-wood, was not well matured. In respect of durability the timber of this tree would prove intermediate between Nos. 1 and 2, but nearer the first.

– 418 –

Of course the opinions here given are based merely upon the foliage specimens taken in connection with the facts stated, and therefore might possibly be modified on an examination of the timber.

As a general rule small matai, say under 2 feet in diameter, must not be expected to prove of great durability, except perhaps when grown in rocky soils.

The relative durability of timber produced by different trees of the same kind, depends upon two primary causes—age, which gives maturity, and the conditions of growth so far as they conduce to lignification or otherwise.

It is a common idea amongst bushmen, that in matai, as in other New Zealand pines which produce the staminate and pistillate inflorescence upon separate trees, one form alone affords valuable timber, but unhappily they never agree as to which form produces the durable timber and which the worthless. As a matter of fact there is no evidence to show that either form is more valuable than the other, nor at present is there evidence to warrant the conclusion that any variety of matai affords more valuable timber than another: all the differences to which attention has yet been drawn may be shown to arise from the degree of maturity, conditions of growth, time of falling, seasoning, or some other cause capable of easy determination when the facts of the case are clearly ascertained.

Art. LXIII.—Notice of the Discovery of Monoclea forsteri, Hook., in New Zealand.

By T. Kirk, F.L.S.

[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 2nd February, 1878.]

In “Flora Novæ-Zelandiæ” and “The Handbook of the New Zealand Flora,” a plant of general distribution in this country is doubtfully described, in the absence of fruit, as Dumortiera hirsuta, Nees, the specimens apparently differing from that plant only in their larger size. Fruiting specimens recently obtained near Wellington show that it is the long-lost Monoclea forsteri, Hook.* (Anthoceros univalvis, G.E. Forst., MS.), all our knowledge of which was obtained from Forster's original specimens, and we were even destitute of exact information as to the locality in which it was collected.

Monoclea is a monotypic genus, and with Calobryum forms a section of Hepaticœ characterized by the solitary unilocular sporangium destitute of a columella, and having the elaters carried away with the spores.

[Footnote] * Musci Exotici, II., p. 174.

– 419 –

The thick, fleshy, irregularly-lobed and imbricated fronds of this common plant are so well known to every New Zealand botanist as to need no description. Fructification springing from cavities in the substance of the frond, tumid on the under surface, and opening by slits on the upper surface near the margin. Peduncles 1–3 in each cavity, 1–1.½ inch long, succulent, white or yellowish, the base of each surrounded by a delicate, stipitate, tubular perianth ⅔–½ inch long, with a two-lobed mouth, the lobes jagged or rarely lacerate, not extending beyond the cavity. Peduncle consisting of two separate tubes closely fitting one within the other. Capsule oblong-cylindrical, coriaceous, faintly striated, sub-erect or inclined, dehiscing longitudinally, at length expanding into an oblong flattened valve coarsely striated within. Columella 0. Elaters and spores forming a densely matted dark-brown mass; elaters vermiform, with intersecting spiral bands; spores globose, minutely punctate.

The capsule is at first erect, but becomes inclined or even horizontal in dehiscence.

Our plant is frequently found growing in situations where it must be submerged for the greater part of the year; in places of this kind its fronds are perfectly flat and less coriaceous than in the usual state.

The fruiting condition appears to be remarkably local; my specimens were obtained from the head of a gully running into the Kaiwarawara. Mr. Buchanan has collected fruiting specimens at Wainuiomata; these are the only instances of its being found in fruit, since its discovery, most probably in the South Island, by Forster more than a century ago. It appears to fruit only during the spring months, October and November.

Art. LXIV.—Descriptions of New Plants.

By T. Kirk, F.L.S.

[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 2nd February, 1878.]

Umbelliferæ.

Pozoa pallida.

Glabrous, rhizome stout creeping, with crowded rosulate leaves at the apex and giving off scions. Leaves ½–¾ inch in diameter, 3-foliolate, leaflets sessile, cuneate or obovate-cuneate, 3–6-lobed at the tips, coriaceous, shining, pale green; petioles 1–3 inches long, stipules lacerate. Peduncles shorter than the leaves bearing a single terminal umbel, or with two or more umbels each successively given off from the one next below it; umbels with a petioled tripartite or lobed leaf at the base, 4–8-flowered;

– 420 –

[The section below cannot be correctly rendered as it contains complex formatting. See the image of the page for a more accurate rendering.]

flowers on slender pedicels ¼ inch long; involucres of about six simple membranous obtuse leaves. Fruit, pale, 1/10 inch long, carpels not rounded at the back.

South Island: Nelson—Roto Iti; Amuri; Lake Guyon. Canterbury—Pukunui Creek.—Altitude, 2,000-3,000 feet.

Specimens without locality or collector's name are in the herbarium of the Colonial Museum.

This species has been confused by collectors with P. trifoliolata, of which Professor Oliver considers it a variety,—an opinion with which I cannot agree, its closest affinity being with P. roughii and P. hydrocotyloides. It is easily recognized in all stages by its pale green shining foliage, and never forms the densely-matted patches so characteristic of P. hydrocotyloides, from which it is further distinguished by its less coriaceous leaves, proliferous umbels, and pedicellate flowers. It is distinguished from P. roughii by the ternate leaflets, few flowered umbels, fruit shorter than the pedicels, and carpels not rounded at the back.

A single specimen in my possession has the peduncles branched with a single pedunculate umbel in the fork of each.

Rubiaceæ.

Coprosma arborea.

A tree 20–25 feet high; trunk 8–12 inches in diameter; wood yellow; branches ascending; leaves ovate-spathulate, coriaceous, reddish below, gradually narrowed into a winged petiole shorter than the blade, veins distinct. Male flowers densely capitate, sessile, axillary or terminal; calyx narrow, deeply 4–5-cleft, minutely ciliated; corolla bell-shaped, 4–5-cleft; lobes broad, obtuse. Female flowers in 4–5-flowered fascicles; calyx 4–5-lobed, lobes obtuse, minutely ciliated; corolla 4–5-partite nearly to the base; lobes ligulate, spreading; styles slender, short. Fruit crowded; globoso-ovoid, with obscure traces of the calyx limb at the apex, white, translucent.

North Island.—From Mongonui southwards to the head of the Hauraki Gulf. Abundant on Waiheke Island.

In the “Handbook of the N.Z. Flora” this species is confused with C. spathulata* to which it is closely allied, and from which it is distinguished

[Footnote] * I append an amended description of C. spathulata, A. Cunn. A sparingly-branched shrub 2–6 feet high; branches spreading or straggling; leaves distant, orbicular-spathulate, emarginate or obcordate, abruptly narrowed into the winged petiole, blade longer or shorter than the petiole, coriaceous, veins obscure. Male flowers in 2–3-flowered fascicles; calyx 4–5-lobed; corolla funnel-shaped, 4–5-partite divided for about half its length; lobes narrow. Female—calyx bell-shaped, 4–5-cleft; corolla 4–5-partite' divided for less than half its length; segments narrow; style ½–¾ inch long. Fruit ovoid, solitary, shortly peduncled, black, shining, crowned by the limb of the calyx.

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by its arboreal habit, numerous ascending branches which are puberulous at the tips, the blade of the leaf always longer than the petiole, and never orbicular or obcordate; the densely aggregated flowers, never solitary; the bell-shaped deeply-divided corolla, shorter style, and crowded fruit.

The fruit when ripe is white and translucent, but soon becomes discoloured from decay. In the fruiting state this plant has some resemblance to Myrsine australis. It is much the largest species of the genus.

Cyperaceæ.
Schœnus vacillans.

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Culms simple, 9–18 inches long, flaccid, tufted, leafy, compressed; Leaves alternate, ascending, 2–3 inches long, 1/25 inch broad, linear acute. Spikelets 1–4 axillary, on scabrid pedicels ¼–½ inch long, dark brown; 1–2-flowered; glumes 4–6 narrow lanceolate, keel scabrid; stamens 3, bristles 3. Nuts small, whitish, slightly trigonous, not polished; stigmas 2 or 3.

North Island.—Deep gullies at the source of the Matai River, Mount Wynyard.

This species is closely allied to S. axillaris, Br., but is easily recognized by its large size, longer flaccid leaves, clustered lanceolate spikelets and narrow glumes. It has not been observed elsewhere.

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