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Art. XXXI.—Description of a new Species of Carmichælia, with Notes on the Distribution of the Species native to Otago.
[Read before the Otago Institute, 12th August, 1884.]
Carmichœlia compacta, n. sp
A Low dense much-branched somewhat spreading shrub, rarely exceeding 4 feet in height, the ends of the stouter branches giving off a profusion of slender wiry terete leafless grooved twigs.
Leaves not seen.
Flowers abundant, ⅕ inch long, in compact glabrous 3–8-flowered racemes, the peduncles 4 or 5 times the length of the calyx, springing from the axil of a subulate scale, and bearing two acuminate bracts a little below the calyx.
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Calyx tumid 5-toothed, with a wide shallow sinus between the teeth.
Corolla white and pink, rather large.
Ovary glabrous. Pod boat-shaped, obovate in outline, ⅕ inch long, nearly twice as long as broad, flattened, transversely wrinkled, upturned at the tip, which suddenly contracts and ends in a short semi-erect subulate beak; grey or brownish-grey, when quite ripe.
Seeds small solitary (rarely two in a pod), reniform, grey mottled with dark brown or black.
Hab. Kawarau Gorge and Dunstan Gorge, Clutha River, Otago.
This species has close affinity to C. juncea, Col.
The species of Carmichœlia native to Otago appear to be the following:—
| 1. |
C. crassicaulis, Hook. f. |
| 2. |
C. nana, Colenso. |
| 3. |
C. grandiflora, Hook. f. |
| 4. |
C. odorata, Col. |
| 5. |
C. flagelliformis, Col. |
| 6. |
C. juncea, Col. |
| 7. |
C. kirkii, Hook. f. |
| 8. |
C. uniflora, Kirk. |
| 9. |
C. compacta, mihi. |
| 10. |
C. enysii (?), Kirk. |
Of these C. crassicaulis appears to be confined to the Hawkdun and Mount Ida Ranges, and a triangular area extending southwards from them to the Lammerlaw. I believe it grows also on the Waitaki side of the ranges named. I have never seen it elsewhere in Otago. It is a common plant in the localities where it is met with.
C. nana has a wide range in the north and interior of Otago, and extends to the coast in the Kakanui and Waitaki River valleys. It grows chiefly in shingly and alluvial flats, where it is often very abundant, and its strong matted roots and creeping stems form an obstacle to breaking-up the ground.
C. grandiflora is reported from the Lake District by Hector and Buchanan, but I have never gathered it there, or indeed elsewhere in Otago. My visits to the interior have, however, always been late in the season.
C. odorata is common in the Maniototo and Manuherikia Plains and also in the central and higher parts of the Clutha Valley. It grows up to 2,500 feet in the neighbourhood of Naseby.
C. flagelliformis is the usual form in the south of Otago and near the coast from Oamaru to Foveaux Straits. It is very plentiful in the Tuapeka District and also on the ridges north of Balclutha.
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C. juncea extends inland from Palmerston South to the Lake District, It grows chiefly in alluvial tracts, and not rarely in almost pure shingle. Its specific name is a very appropriate one.
C. kirkii I have gathered at Otepopo and in valleys of the Rock and Pillar Range near Hyde. Mr. Kirk's discovery of it in Cardrona Valley shows that it has a wide range. No doubt it will ere long be found in other intermediate stations.
C. uniflora is reported from the Lower Waitaki Valley by Mr. Buchanan.
C. compacta I have seen only in the Clutha Valley, between Lake Wakatipu and Clyde, where it is the commonest species.
C. enysii (?) I believe grows on spurs of Mount Ida and near the Eweburn Creek, but, as I have no specimens in my herbarium, this point must remain for the present unsettled.
I quite agree with Mr. Kirk's opinion that C. australis does not occur in Otago. At any rate I have never gathered any form which I could refer to this species, and I have collected assiduously.
It is a characteristic of several New Zealand genera of plants that two or more species often grow side by side in the same locality. This may be well seen in the genera Coprosma, Olearia, Celmisia, Epilobium, and Veronica, among others. It holds to a certain extent in Carmichœlia also.
In the Maniototo Plain C. crassicaulis, C. odorata, and C. nana grow side by side, while C. juncea and C. enysii (?) both grow in suitable localities in the same district. Many a square mile could be selected there containing all of the foregoing. So C. odorata and C. compacta grow side by side throughout the area in which the latter is known to occur.
Near Otepopo C. kirkii and C. flagelliformis flourish in the same locality, the former being, however, much the rarer.
Of the Otago species C. flagelliformis is the most isolated, and the widest ranging. C. odorata and C. nana have also a wide range, chiefly in the drier parts of the province. C. juncea stands next in extent of range, though it does not in this respect surpass the much rarer C. kirkii. C. crassicaulis, C. compacta, and C. enysii (?) are the most local and restricted in their distribution.
I think it probable that another new species of Carmichœlia will be found in Otago, as I have forms of a very distinct character which I cannot refer to any described species. Ampler materials may enable me ere long to throw more light on these anomalous specimens.