Art. LI.—Description of new Plants. By D. Petirie, M.A. [Read before the Otago Institute, 21st June, 1881.] Cotula maniototo, n. sp. A Minute densely-tufted moss-like species. Stems creeping, with short leafy branches. Leaves sessile, linear-oblong, pinnatifid, with few linear segments on each side, silky on both surfaces, ⅙–⅓ ineh long, broader and more membraneous at the base. Heads small, bisexual, sessile on the tips of the lateral branches: involucral scales in two series, broad, entire, membraneous, outer more or less silky. Female flowers in one outer series, with narrow-oblong 2-lobed corolla, and 2-lobed stigma. Hermaphrodite flowers 15–20, with corolla dilated above, and 4- or 5-lobed. Stigma flattened at the top; achenes oblong, turgid, slightly winged. Hab.—Maniototo Plain, Otago, in moist hollows containing water in wet seasons. I have never seen this plant except on the Maniototo Plain and its borders. It ranges from Kyeburn Crossing to the Styx, a tributary of the Upper Taieri. It is a very inconspicuous plant, and might readily be overlooked, as was long the case with Veronica canescens, Buch., which occurs in the same locality and in similar situations. The species is an extremely distinct one.

[Read before the Otago Institute, 19th July, 1881.] Carex wakatipu, n. sp. A cæspitose small species, much branched at the base. Leaves usually broad, flat, much longer than the culms, slightly scabrid at the margins. Culms much shorter than the leaves 8-angled, smooth, invested by the sheathing bases of the leaves. Spikelets 4–6, erect, lower shortly peduncled, upper sessile; uppermost male, others male at the top only. Bracts long and leaf-like. Glumes ovate-oblong, brownish, membraneous, bifid, with a rather long hispid awn, being a continuation of the strong green nerve. Utricles turgid, biconvex, nerved, shortly bifid at the smooth apex but scarcely produced into a beak. Stigmas 2. Hab.—Ben Lomond, near Queenstown, 3–5,000 feet. I have a good series of depauperized forms in some of which the spikelets are reduced in number, and conspicuously in length and stoutness. Carex goyeni, n. sp. A tufted strong-growing, dark-green, species. Culms stout, 3-angled, almost smooth, a foot high or less. Leaves longer than the culms, flat, broad, keeled, scabrid at the margins. Bracts long, leafy, flat. Spikelets 7 to 9, stout, cylindric, erect, 1 inch long or less; the lower somewhat distant, peduncled; upper sessile, approximate; uppermost male in the lower half, female above, others female with a few male flowers at the bottom of the lower spikelets. Glumes nearly as long as the utricles, rounded-ovate, membraneous, brown, shortly awned. Utricles turgid, divaricating, pale, shining, nerveless, with a short bifid beak which is smooth or slightly scabrid at the margins. Styles 2, short. Hab.—Head of Lake Wakatipu, 1,100 feet. This species is easily distinguished by its robust habit, its broad flat leaves exceeding the culms, its short spikelets, and the absence of any entirely male spikelet. It is named in honour of Mr. P.: Goyen, who has been for some time engaged in work calculated to throw considerable light on the alpine flora of the S.W. of Otago. [Read before the Otago Institute, 22nd November, 1881.] Carex longiculmis, n. sp. A tall cæspitose species, somewhat similar to Carex trifida, Cavanilles, but more slender lax and tall. Leaves shorter than the culms, pale green, ⅕ of an inch broad, usually flat, keeled, smooth save at the margins near the top, the lower part with a expanded sheath ending in a truncated ligule. Culms tall, rounded, 2–8 3½ feet high. Bracts long, leaf-like. Spikelets 5 or 6, erect, stout; one and sometimes two uppermost male only; others with a few male flowers at

the base; lowermost 1–1½ inches long distant and shortly peduncled, the upper approximate, sessile, becoming progressively shorter. Glumes ovateoblong, membraneous, brown at the edges, produced into a cuspidate awn, usually bifid at the apex, but sometimes acute. Utricle as long as the glumes, shortly stipitate, strongly nerved, usually deep-brown above, narrowed into a short bifid beak. Arms of style 3. Hab.—Glory Cove, Paterson's Inlet, Stewart Island. Gathered January, 1880.