The following list of the works on the Desmidieæ which are now (1888) available to me here is given as a guide to anybody desiring to further investigate the family in New Zealand. They do not form more than a small portion of the whole bibliography of the subject, but are sufficiently comprehensive for most purposes. However, every year is adding to the number of works on Desmids.

• De Bary, A. Untersuchungen über die Familie der Conjugaten. 1858.

• Bennett, Dr. Fresh-water Algæ of the English Lake District (in “Journ. of Roy. Micros. Soc.”). 1886.

• Bisset, J. P. List of Desmidieæ found in the Neighbourhood of Lake Windermere (in “Journ. of Roy. Micros. Soc.”). 1884.

• Delponte, J. B. Specimen Desmidiacearum subalpinarum. 1873.

• Ehrenberg, C. G. Die Infusionsthierchen. 1838.

• Joshua, W. Burmese Desmidieæ (in “Linn. Soc. Journ.”). 1886.

• Lagerheim, G. Contributions Algologiques à la Flore de la Suède. 1886.

• —— Bidrag till Amerikas Desmidié-Flora. 1885.

• —— Ueber einige Algen aus Cuba, Jamaica, und Puerto-Rico. 1887.

• —— Ueber Desmidiaceen aus Bengalen. 1887.

• —— Sopra Alcune Alghe d'acqua dolce. 1888.

• Lundell, P. M. De Desmidiaceis quæ in Suecia inventæ sunt. 1871

• Maskell, W. M. Contributions towards a List of the New Zealand Desmidieæ (“Trans. N.Z. Inst.”). 1880.

• —— Additions to above Catalogue (“Trans. N.Z. Inst.”). 1882.

• —— On a New Variety of Desmid (“Trans. N.Z. Inst.”). 1885.

• —— Note on Micrasterias americana, Ralfs, and its Varieties (in “Journ. of Roy. Micros. Soc.”). 1887.

• Nordstedt, O. Symbolæ ad Floram Brasiliæ centralis cognoscendam—Desmidiaceæ. 1869.

• —— Desmidieæ ex insulis Spetsbergensis et Beeren Eiland. 1872.

• —— Bidrag till Kännedomen om sydligare Norges Desmideer. 1873.

• —— Desmidieæ arctoæ. 1875.

• —— Desmidieæ et ædogoniæ in Italia et Tyrolia collectæ. 1876.

• —— Nonnullæ Algæ aquæ dulcis Brasilienses. 1877.

• —— De Algis aquæ dulcis ex insulis Sandvicensibus. 1878.

• —— De Algis nonnullis, præcipue Desmidieis, inter Utricularias Musei Lugduno-Batavi. 1880.

• —— Desmidieer samlade af Sv. Berggren under Nordenskioldska expeditionen till Grönland. 1885.

• —— Fresh-water Algæ collected by Dr. S. Berggren in New Zealand and Australia. 1887.

• Pritchard, A. Infusoria (Desmidieæ by W. Archer). 1861.

• Rabenhorst, L. Flora Europæa Algarum aquæ dulcis et submarinæ. 1868.

• Ralfs, J. The British Desmidieæ. 1848.

• Roy, J., and Bisset, J. P. Note on Japanese Desmids (in “Journ. of Botany,” July and August). 1886.

• Spencer, Dr. Notes on Fresh-water Algæ (“Trans. N.Z. Inst.”). 1881.

• —— Continuation of the above. 1882.

• Turner, W. B. Notes on Fresh-water Algæ (in the “Naturalist”). 1886.

• —— On some New and Rare Desmids (“Journ. of Roy. Micros. Soc.”). 1885.

• Wallich, Dr. Descriptions of Desmidiaceæ from Lower Bengal (in “Annals and Mag. of Nat. History”). 1860.

• Wills, A. W. On the Desmidieæ of North Wales (in “Midland Naturalist”). 1881.

• Wolle, F. Desmids of the United States. 1884.

• —— Fresh-water Algæ of the United States. 1887.

Also detached papers on Desmidieæ and other Algæ by Nordstedt, Wittrock, Marquand, and others.

Professor Nordstedt's paper on the New Zealand Algæ, included in the above list, is specially valuable. It contains descriptions, with seven plates, of about one hundred and fifty species and varieties of Desmidieæ.

I have to make the following remarks and corrections regarding some of the plants included in my two former papers. These are rendered necessary by more accurate knowledge acquired since 1882, either by observation, or by more extended access to the literature of the subject, or by suggestions from Professor Nordstedt, Mr. Turner, and others.

Aptogonum undulatum (“Trans. N.Z. Inst.,” vol. xiii.). The genus Aptogonum is now by most writers considered as properly only equivalent to Desmidium, Agardh; and Professor Nordstedt attaches my plant as a variety to D. baileyi, de Bary. In his description and figures (“Alg. of N.Z.,” p. 27, and pl. ii., 8) he does not, I think, express altogether the convex curve of the upper portion of each cell as seen in front-view (or, as I called it in 1880, the “side-view,” meaning as in filament). His specimens appear to be more angular than any I have seen, and I have re-examined for comparison a number of preserved specimens and a few fresh ones. Also, he states that in all cases the end-view is “regularly triangular, with rounded angles and almost straight sides. “I find that this is so as a rule; but several specimens exhibit an end-view similar to that given in my paper of 1880 (vol. xiii., pl. xi.), except that the printers then added a sort of loop or curved open ring, which was not in my original drawing, and instead of which there should have been only the three small processes near the angles.

Micrasterias rotata (vols. xiii. and xv.). This, which I reported with very great doubt in 1880 and 1882, turns out to be M. schweinfurthii, Cohn, a Central African plant. My fig. 16b (vol. xv.) is a form of M. angulosa, Hantzsch.

Euastrum binale, forma (vol. xiii.). The fig. 26 in pl. xii. is the variety denticulatum, Kirchner. See the present paper, with more accurate figure. (Pl. II., fig. 12.)

Holocystis incisa (vol. xiii.). This is Micrasterias decemdentata, Naegeli, var. upsaliensis, Cleve.

Cosmarium ralfsii (vol. xiii.). This is very near to C. pseudopachydermum, Nordstedt (“N.Z. Alg.,” p. 53), and is not

the species to which I first referred it. Nordstedt's specimens, most of which seem to have come from the Canterbury District, as mine did, had not the deep incrassation at the ends shown in my pl. xii., fig. 30 (1880). I have re-examined my specimens, and find the incrassation very distinct in most of them, though some are without it.

Cosmarium crenatum (vol. xiii.). This is C. naegelianum, Brébisson, var. latum of my present paper.

C. undulatum (vol. xiii.). is C. speciosum, Lundell. Vide post.

C. undulatum, var. β (vol. xv.), appears to me now to be somewhat near C. impressulum, Elfving, as figured by Roy and Bisset (“Japan Desm.”); but I have not specimens at hand for comparison.

C. margaritiferum (vol. xiii.). The three forms figured by me in 1880 appear to belong to different species. Fig. 27 is probably C. sublatum, Nordst.; fig. 28, C. quaternarium, Nordst.; and fig. 29, C. reniforme, Archer, which is at least very closely allied to C. margaritiferum.

C. broomeii (vol. xiii.). This is C. sublatum, Nordst.; but I am not able to see the difference between this new species and Lundell's C. latum.

C. thwaitesii (?) (vol. xv.) is Penium cucurbitinum, var. subpolymorphum, Nordst.

C. gemmiferum (vol. xv.) is C. magnificum, sp. nov., Nordst.

C. speciosum, var. inflatum (vol. xv.). Professor Nordstedt makes this C. subspeciosum, var. validius, var. nov. In accepting the correction, I cannot help remarking that the differences between C. speciosum and C. subspeciosum do not appear to be very important.

C. cyclicum, var. ampliatum (vol. xv.). In accordance with a suggestion from Professor Nordstedt, I describe and figure this in the present paper as C. subcyclicum, sp. nov.

C. tetraophthalmum β minus (vol. xv.) is C. subpunctulatum, Nordst.

Staurastrum avicula (vol. xiii.) is S. subdenticulatum, Nordst.

Staur. (Didymocladon) stella (vols. xiii. and xv.) are forms of S. sexangulare, Bulnheim.

Staur. aculeatum (vol. xv.) is S. splendidum of the present paper.

Staur. clepsydra (vol. xii.). This name having been previously taken, Professor Nordstedt, at my suggestion, altered it to S. spencerianum. He considers the plant a variety of S.

connatum, Lundell. Nordstedt observes that the spines in his specimens do not diverge as much as shown in my figures. I have since re-examined my specimens, and find that in the majority the spines, if produced inwards, would meet exactly at the middle of the isthmus, as in my pl. xxiv., fig. 12a: a few of them are less divergent, as in my fig. 12b.

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Docidium dilatatum (vol. xiii.) is D. ovatum, Nordst. (“Desm. Brasil.”), now attached to the sub-genus Pleurotanium. The measurement given in my paper of 1880, “length, 1/33in.,” is a clerical error; it should have been “1/66in.”

Triploceras tridentatum (vol. xiii.); the same, var. cylindricum (vol. xv.); the same, var. superbum (vol. xviii.). The distinctions upon which I based this new species and its variations, as separating it from T. verticillatum and T. gracile, Bailey, from T. pristidæ, Hobson, and T. gracile, Archer, were the presence of three denticulatious on the terminal processes and two tricuspidate projections just below them. Professor Nordstedt considers the last as accidental. On re-examining my specimens of var. cylindricum I find that some have the projections, others have not; consequently these cannot be used as sufficient distinction. Nordstedt attaches my var. superbum to T. verticillatum, and my var. cylindricum to T. gracile, Bailey; but he says that in neither has he been able to see the terminal processes tridentate. In all of the eighteen specimens I have preserved of both, the three teeth are very distinct and clear, although in some which are slightly turned towards the eye the third tooth is seen only foreshortened. There is indeed a marked difference between these two plants and T. aculeatum or T. bidentatum, Nordst. (“N.Z. Alg.,” p. 64), of which I have also specimens. In these last the terminal teeth are never, as far as I have seen, more than two, and sometimes only one is visible. Of the original T. tridentatum I have unfortunately no specimens now, and the locality where it was gathered is no longer available. It will be worth while for some one to make a thorough examination of the plants of this genus in New Zealand, for they are very beautiful and worthy of full investigation. On the whole, I venture to maintain my original diagnosis; and, if T. verticillatum and T. gracile never have three terminal denticulations, I think my plants are rightly separated from both.

The localities in New Zealand where Dr. Berggren collected Algæ appear to have been very numerous, ranging from the Bluff to the Bay of Islands. I do not see, however, in the list given in Professor Nordstedt's paper any places in Hawke's Bay or on the south-western coast of the North Island. Most of the new species and varieties mentioned in this present paper and former papers of mine have been collected in these

Frond rather large; constriction deep, linear; segments in front-view obscurely three-lobed, the basal lobes widely emarginate with very shallow depressions; end-lobe compressed, ends slightly dilated, round, a little protuberant, with a deep narrow notch. At the base of each segment five granuliferous inflations (three on the face and one at each side); above these four others; at the ends an inflation on each side of the notch; altogether eleven inflations on each segment. The granules are conspicuous, and the cytioderm as punctate. Segments in side-view thick, sub-cylindrical, slightly narrowed near the ends, the inflations giving irregular outlines. In end-view the sub-elliptical grooved ends appear conspicuously on the rounded and inflated basal lobes, the granules being conspicuous.

Long., 75–80 μ; lat., 40–44 μ; crass., 26 μ; lat. isthmi, 11.8 μ.

Hawke's Bay; Otaki.

B. Forma minor, var. simplex, var. nov. Plate I., fig.6.

Frond much smaller than the last; otherwise similar in outline. Inflations not constant in number: some plants exhibit eleven on each segment, others only seven, the lowest row having only three, the middle only two; inflations granuliferbus, the granules distinct. Cytioderm smooth, or, at least, the puncta are extremely obscure. Zygospore globose, with subulate spines which have very broad bases and rather long points.

Long., 53 μ; lat., 26 μ; diam. zyg. ex spin., 27 μ; long. spin., 11 μ.

Rutherford's Swamp, Otaki.

E. sinuosum was attached by Ralfs (“Brit. Desm.,” p. 85) to E. circulare, Hassell, but has since been considered as separate. The two forms here given do not, as it seems (unless the hitherto undescribed zygospore of the European plant be found to differ), require to be considered as anything but varieties of the type. Nordstedt reports (“N.Z. Alg.,” p. 33) E. sinuosum from New Zealand without remark. The measurements which he there gives (long., 87 μ; lat., 50 μ) are a good deal larger than those of Ralfs. My var. gemmulosum exactly corresponds with Ralfs's dimensions; the var. simplex is a good deal smaller. The measurements I give are constant in a number of specimens observed. I think that the conspicuous granules in the inflations of both, the divided sub-elliptical end conspicuous in end-view, and the shallowness of the depressions in the edges, may be taken as sufficiently distinctive characters: the variable number of inflations is not important. Wolle (“Desm. of U.S.,” pl. xxvii.) figures E. circulare with much-compressed end-lobe, and with a

circular end in end-view. He gives its length as only 36 μ, and does not mention E. sinuosum.

* Euastrum longicolle, Nordstedt. Plate I., fig. 7.

There is in this plant, near the middle of each segment in front-view, a small circular orifice with a spot in the centre, as if there were there a ring-like opening of the frond. Professor Nordstedt (“N.Z. Alg.,” p. 33) casually mentions this feature without further remark. The only other species of this genus, as far as I am aware, exhibiting “scrobiculi” are E. crassum, var. scrobiculatum, Lundell, and E. rostratum, Ralfs, var. præmorsum, Nordstedt, the former a Swedish, the latter a New Zealand form.

Rutherford's Swamp, Otaki.

Euastrum rotundum, sp. nov. Plate I., fig. 8.

Frond moderate; constriction deep, linear; segments in front-view obscurely three-lobed, the basal lobes smoothly and widely rounded, not emarginate; on each segment three basal granuliferous inflations, and two others at the ends; a few granules on the edges. Segments in side-view sub-cylindrical at the base, slightly emarginate on account of the median inflation, then tapering rapidly towards the ends, which are very slightly dilated. End-view elliptical with median inflation.

Long., 44.6 μ; lat., 26 μ; crass., 17 μ.

Rutherford's Swamp, Otaki.

Allied apparently to E. pingue, Elfving; but it is more slender and less clearly three-lobed. It is much smaller and more evenly rounded than E. ansatum, Ralfs. E. obesum, Joshua (“Burm. Desm.,” p. 638, and pl. xxiii., 19), is like it in outline, but is larger as a rule, and has apparently no granuliferons inflations.

*Euastrum sublobatum, Brébisson. Plate I., fig. 9.

Some authors place this plant under Cosmarium, others under Euastrum. The end-view seems to me to determine its place in the latter genus, and so I leave it.

Hawke's Bay.

Euastrum expansum, sp. nov. Plate I., fig. 10.

Frond very minute, not quite as long as broad; constriction deep, linear, rather wide externally; segments in frontview three-lobed, basal lobes somewhat protruded and a little turned upwards, end-lobe with concave end but without a terminal notch. Frond in side-view narrow, constriction shallow and wide, segments elliptical towards the base and tapering towards the rounded ends. End-view elliptical at the base, with the tip of the end-lobe appearing as if sub-rect-

angular. Inflations doubtful, no specimen having been seen without endochrome.

Long., 11.4 μ; lat., 13.2 μ; crass., 3.2 μ.

Christchurch.

If it were not for the concave ends and for the appearance in end-view, this plant would belong more properly to the genus Cosmarium. It is exceedingly minute, and not common.

* Euastrum denticulatum, Kirchner. Plate II., fig. 11.

This appears to be one of the innumerable varieties of E. binale, Ralfs. It is the plant of which a rough representation was given by me in 1880 (“Trans.,” vol. xiii., pl. xii., 26):. the present figure is more accurate. Nordstedt (“Alg. of N.Z.,” pl. iii., fig. 11) represents this plant as “sp. ad E. denticulatum accedens,” and in his fig. 9 he shows Kirchner's original type as a good deal smaller. The two sizes occur here together. I can detect only one median inflation on each segment in front-view. The side-view which I give is less “ornate” than that of Nordstedt (iii., 11c): it is taken from two specimens observed.

Hawke's Bay; Christchurch.

Euastrum binale, Ralfs, forma. Plate II., fig. 12.

This seems to be nearer than the last to the original type, although it does not seem to fit it exactly.

Christchurch.

The variations of E. binale would appear to be endless. Ralfs, Lundell, Delponte, Wolle, all give figures which differ a good deal from each other. Especially Wolle describes and figures E. binale as distinguished by the “pouting” of the ends at each side of the terminal notch, this very character being a distinctive one of E. elegans. In fact, there is so much difference in these figures that one wonders why some of the plants have not been transferred to other species. My figure 12, which I take to be E. binale because its ends do not exhibit any “pouting,” is very similar to one of Wolle's exhibit any “pouting,” of U.S.,” pl. xxvii., 25) which he names E. elegans.

Euastrum undulosum, sp. nov. Plate II., fig. 13.

Frond moderate; constriction deep, linear; segments in front-view trapezoidal, tapering directly from the base to the rather wide ends; sides crenate, each with four equal crenations; ends wide, angles divergent, with minute terminal spines, slightly protuberant towards the middle and emarginate; notch conspicuous; at the base of each segment is a single median conspicuous inflation, and on the face of the frond a number of concentric verrucose undulations. In side-view the constriction is shallow and wide, the inflation visible;

The form with concave sides approaches to C. anceps, Lundell, but it is larger, and the ends are not emarginate. I observe that Wolle's figure of C. anceps (“Desm. of U.S.,” pl. xviii., fig. 11) differs considerably from Lundell's. The convex form resembles C. parvulum, Brébisson, but is also much larger. The three outlines which I give were taken from a gathering in which the plant occurred rather plentifully. Mr. W. B. Turner informs me that he has seen from India a plant something like mine, and thought of giving to it the name of C. varians. Herr G. Lagerheim tells me that he has had my plant growing in a greenhouse at Berlin for two years: he does not mention the locality whence he procured it, but this could hardly have been New Zealand.

Cosmarium curtum, var. attenuatum, Brébisson. Plate II., fig. 16.

Sufficiently near to the European species, I believe, to permit identification. It will be noticed that this New Zealand form has a slightly elliptical end-view, being narrowed as seen from the side. It is just possible that this may be sufficient to distinguish it from Brébisson's plant, or, at least, to suggest that it should be named “forma compressa.” But for the present I prefer leaving it as it is, subject to future revision. In dimensions it is rather smaller than the type.

Long., 35 μ; lat., 15 μ; crass., 10 μ.

Otaki.

Cosmarium retusum, Perty; var. læve, Roy and Bisset Plate II., fig.17.

This plant differs from Perty's type in the total absence of granules. Lundell (“Desm. Suec.,” p. 36) remarks that the granules of C. retusum are not easily observed; but they are undoubtedly absent in the New Zealand as in the Japanese form.

Long., 17.8 μ; lat., 13.5 μ; crass., 7 μ;.

Hawke's Bay; Otaki.

The dimensions given are rather smaller than those of Roy and Bisset (“Japan Desm.,” p. 195), but the plant seems to be otherwise identical.

Cosmarium pachydermum, Lundell, forma intermedia Plate II., fig. 18.

Long., 81 lat., 55 μ; crass., 19 μ;.

Christchurch; Hawke's Bay; Kaitoke; Otaki.

This plant seems to be intermediate in size between Lundell's original type and Nordstedt's “var. minus” (“Norges Desm.,” p. 18). The segments are quite round, as in the type; but in side-view they are rather narrower and more attenuated.

The plant which I reported as “Cos. ralfsii, var. β” (“Trans.,” 1882, vol. xv., p. 239), may perhaps have been a still smaller form of the same plant; but I have not now any specimens to which to refer.

* Cosmarium trilobulatum, Reinsch, var. basichondrum, Nordstedt. Plate II., fig. 19.

Long., 18 μ; lat., 12 μ.

Otaki.

My measurements are a little less than those given by Professor Nordstedt (“Alg. of N.Z.,” p. 57).

Cosmarium cordanum, Brébisson, forma minor. Plate II., fig. 20.

Long., 30 μ; lat., 15 μ; crass., 12 μ.

Rutherford's Swamp, Otaki.

I have never seen the original figures of this plant, and have judged from those given of it by Wolle (“Fresh. Alg. of U.S.,” pl. lx.) and by Turner (“Journ. Roy. Micr. Soc.,” Dec., 1885). With these it agrees nearly in all but size, and perhaps a little more angular form in side-view.

* Cosmarium repandum, Nordstedt. Plate II., fig. 21.

I think my specimens have rather more sinuous sides than the type.

Cosmarium speciosum, Lundell, forma genuina. Plate II., fig. 22.

Long., 50 μ; lat., 26.8 μ; crass., 17 μ.

Hawke's Bay.

The dimensions of this plant seem to vary. Wolle says that the American forms are much larger than the Swedish.

Cosmarium speciosum, Lundell, var. simplex, Nordstedt. Plate II., fig. 23.

Long., 40–45 μ; lat., 28–32 μ; crass., 15–17 μ;.

Hawke's Bay.

This plant is less angular than the type; but I scarcely like to consider it at present as a new variety. Hereafter it may be separated on account of its rounder form. ^*

* Cosmarium sub-speciosum, var. validius, Nordstedt. Plate II., fig. 24.

This plant, in vol. xv. of our “Transactions,” I reported as C. speciosum, var. inflatum. Professor Nordstedt has placed it more correctly as above.

Cosmarium regnesi, Reinsch, var. ornatum, var. nov. Plate II., fig.25.

Frond very minute; constriction shallow, wide, and curvilinear; segments in front-view irregular, sides very short, cut into three minute lobules with concave edges; angles between the lobules sharp; ends concave. Cytioderm bearing at each side of each segment three granules arranged triangularly. Segments in side-view sub-fusiform, tapering gradually to rounded ends; two minute granules visible on the face and two others on each edge: of the last, one pair are near the base, the other near the end. End-view angular-elliptical, a minute granule marking each quasi-angle.

Long., 9 μ; lat., 9 μ; crass., 2.5 μ.

Christchurch.

If I may judge by a tracing sent to me by Mr. W. B. Turner of Reinsch's original figure of this plant, and by a figure of Mr. Turner's in the, “Naturalist,” February, 1886, the plant herein described is more ornate than the original. Some specimens, however, in slides sent me from England a few years ago by Mr. Joshua, are nearer to this New Zealand form, though not exactly similar. Reinsch's figure is, as I understand, by no means a good one. The plant is exceedingly minute, and is scarcely to be made out with a less power than 1,000 diameters. It appears to have sometimes a pink tinge.

Cosmarium holmiense, Lundell, forma minor. Plate III., fig. 26.

Long., 54 μ; lat., 35 μ; crass., 23.7 μ.

Hawke's Bay.

Shorter, and not quite as wide as the original type. The American form (Wolle, “Desm. of U.S.,” p. 68) is even narrower. The dimensions here given are constant in many specimens.

Cosmarium, naegelianum, Brébisson, var. latum, var. nov. Plate III., fig. 27.

Frond small; constriction deep, linear, narrowed at the mouth; segments in front-view nearly twice as wide as long, with slightly convergent sides; edges crenulate, with five crenations at each side; ends wide, plane, or very obscurely crenulated. In side-view, segments sub-rectangular, angles rounded; in end-view elliptical, with a very slight median inflation and an obscurely crenulate edge. Cytioderm minutely punctate, the puncta obscurely arranged in transverse rows when in side-view. Zygospore globose, spinous with short sharp subulate spines.

Long., 25 μ; lat., 23.8 μ;, crass., 11 μ; diam. zygosp. incl. spin., 32.7 μ; long. spin., 3 μ.

Christchurch; Hawke's Bay; Otaki.

A plant of the series of C. crenatum, Ralfs; but proportionately shorter and broader, and the crenulations of the ends in front-view are so obscure that the end often, appears nearly straight. C. naegelianum, as figured by Wolle (“Desm. of U.S.”), is narrower than this New Zealand form, but his description otherwise corresponds. This plant differs from C, sub-punctulatum, Nordstedt (“Alg. of N.Z.,” p. 47), in the absence of the granules which are conspicuous in that form. The zygospore is new.

Cosmarium turnerianum, sp. nov. Plate III., fig. 28.

Frond moderate; segments in front-view twice as broad as long, or more; constriction deep, linear, and somewhat wide, so that the segments do not closely approximate; segments sometimes circular, sometimes trapezoidal, the edges deeply sinuous with ten wide crenulations; cytioderm marked by a number of granular inflations corresponding to the crenulations of the edge, giving an appearance to the frond of grooves radiating from the centre; in the median space a series of seven smaller inflations in a row on the base of each segment. A frond with circular segments is almost regularly elliptical, the ends at the constriction somewhat sharp. In side-view, segments sub-elliptical, narrow, ends rounded, edges very obscurely crenulated towards the ends, and with a slight inflation towards the base marked with minute inflations. In end-view, frond sub-elliptical with sharp ends, the thickness variable; a slight median inflation visible, and the granules arranged in transverse series.

Long., 36–40 μ; lat., 40 μ; crass., 14–20 μ.

Hawke's Bay.

This plant approaches C. cyclicum, Lundell, especially when elliptical with rounded segments, but it is smaller, has a wider sinus at the constriction, with more conspicuous “grooves” on the frond, and the row of granules at the base of each segment, producing the inflation in side-view, is quite distinctive. Lundell gives two variant figures of C. cyclicum, neither of which has trapezoidal segments. C. cyclicum, var. arcticum, Nordstedt, is more angular than Lundell's type, but its edges are irregularly incised, and it has not the rows of granules which produce the inflations of our species.

I have ventured to attach to this plant the name of Mr. W. B. Turner, who has been kind enough to give me much help.

Cosmarium sub-cyclicum, sp. nov. Plate III., fig. 29.

In 1882 (“Trans.” vol. xv., p. 241) I reported this plant under the name C. cyclicum, var. ampliatum Professor Nordstedt suggests to me that it should rather be a new species,

and certainly the number of small crenulations on the margin is about double that of Lundell's plant, which has only twelve. The rather widely-gaping constriction (from which I took my former name) seems to separate it from any species hitherto described.

Long., 51 μ; lat., 46–49 μ; crass., 16 μ.

Sumner Road, Lyttelton.

Cosmarium heliosporum, sp. nov. Plate III., fig. 30.

Frond small; segments in front-view sub-quadrate, crenate, with from ten to twelve conspicuous crenations; angles rounded; cytioderm marked with large granular inflations corresponding to the crenations and radiating from the median space, giving the frond a deeply-grooved appearance; in the median space, at the base of each segment, a row of small, apparently vertical inflations, usually five in each row. In side-view, segments sub-quadrate, slightly tapering to the wide ends, which are a little convex; edges smooth at the base of the segments, and minutely crenulate at the ends. End-view elliptical, with transverse rows of granules; viewed from the base of a segment the granules form a circle round the isthmus. Zygospore globose, with numerous spines; the spines subulate, on broad bases, and minutely divided at the apex.

Long., 28.3 μ; lat., 23 μ; crass., 15.6 μ; diam. zygosp. exclus. spin., 33 μ; long. spin., 3.5 μ.

Hawke's Bay.

A species belonging to the series of C. crenatum, but distinct by its sub-quadrate segments, which are conspicuously crenate at the ends, and by the form and size of the spines on the zygospore. From these spines Mr. Turner suggested to me the specific name which I have herein adopted.

*Cosmarium amplum, Nordstedt. Plate III., fig. 31.

I give a figure of this plant, partly because of its peculiar end-view in some cases (roundly triangular); partly because the granules seem to me often to be arranged in concentric curves, and not always in quincunx, as Professor Nordstedt reports; and partly on account of a conspicuous inflation, observed in some specimens when viewed neither in. front nor directly from the end. The plant is a fine one. Perhaps two-thirds of the specimens observed by me from Otaki have a triangular end-view; all those from Hawke's Bay have elliptical ends.

Hawke's Bay; Otaki.

Cosmarium quadrifarium, Lundell, var. gemmulatum, var. nov. Plate III., fig. 32.

Frond moderate; constriction deep, linear; segments in

Staurastrum bieneanum, Rabenhorst, forma minor. Plate IV., fig. 36.

Frond small; segments in front-view fusiform, with very wide constriction; in end-view triangular, with deeply concave sides, and rounded, rather tapering, angles; cytioderm punctate, the puncta in transverse lines; edges apparently not perfectly smooth.

Long., 20–25 μ; lat., 15–22 μ.

Hawke's Bay; Wellington; Otaki.

I prefer attaching this plant to Rabenhorst's species (which, indeed, he considered rather a variety of S. orbiculare, but which later authors have considered distinct), instead of erecting it into a separate species on the minute variations which it presents.

Staurastrum sub-amœnum, sp. nov. Plate IV., fig. 37.

Frond small, slightly variable in size; constriction only a minute notch. Segments in front-view unequally pentagonal, the sides obscurely sinuous and widening from the base to the sub-acute lateral angles, thence tapering rapidly to the terminal angles; ends straight. The edges all round are obscurely irregular. Within the border the edges of the side-view can be seen. Cytioderm punctate; puncta in concentric curves. In side-view the segments are lozenge-shaped, the angles slightly truncate; edge irregular; puncta in longitudinal series, and the edge of the front-view is visible. In end-view the frond is four-sided, the angles slightly truncate, sides slightly concave, puncta transverse.

Long., 35–39 μ; lat., 28–33 μ.

Hawke's Bay.

This plant belongs to the series of S. capitulum, Brébisson, and S. amœnum, Hilse, of which Professor Nordstedt reports a variety, “tumidiusculum,” from New Zealand. It is, however, less ornate than any of these, and also smaller. S. meriani, Reinsch (as figured by Wolle, “Desm. of U.S.”) also approaches it.

Staurastrum alternans, Brébisson, var. sub-alternans, var. nov. Plate IV., fig. 38.

Frond small; segments in front-view sub-elliptical; when viewed slightly tilted (as in the figure) the third angles of the two segments are not exactly opposite. In end-view, segments triangular, sides concave, angles rounded; the frond being only slightly twisted, the angles of each segment are neither quite in correspondence nor quite alternate. Cytioderm punctate, the puncta transverse.

Long., 25 μ; lat., 26.7 μ.

Christchurch; Hawke's Bay.

I have proposed this as a true “variety” of the original form, as in all the specimens seen since 1879 (perhaps more than a hundred) the twisting of the frond, although distinct, is never sufficient to bring the angles in end-view regularly alternate as in the European and American types.

Staurastrum striolatum, Naegeli, var. acutius, var. nov. Plate IV., fig. 39.

Angles, both in front- and end-views, a good deal sharper than in the type.

Long., 21 μ; lat., 23 μ.

Hawke's Bay.

Staurastrum ventricosum, sp. nov. Plate IV., fig. 40.

Frond moderate; constriction deep and wide; segments in front view elliptico-fusiform, with convex ends, and prolonged into short processes each tipped with three minute spines; cytioderm rough with conspicuous granules; on the outer edges several spines, small, simple, neither dilated nor forked. End-view triangular; processes short; edges obscurely irregular; sides slightly concave; granules in transverse series.

Long., 39 μ; lat., 40 μ.

Christchurch; Wellington; Kaitoke; Hawke's Bay.

A plant which I had at first considered as a variety of S. proboscideum, Brébisson; but it is separated from that species by the absence of forked or dilated spines, and by the transverse arrangement of the granules in end-view. It is much smaller than the next species, and has not concave or depressed ends with widely divergent spines in front-view.

Staurastrum splendidum, sp. nov. Plate IV., fig. 41.

Frond rather large; constriction wide. Segments in front-view sub-orbicular, the ends depressed or sometimes slightly concave, sides produced into moderately long processes, each bearing three conspicuous spines. Cytioderm rough with large conspicuous granules. Edge smooth, or obscurely irregular for a little way from the isthmus, thence conspicuously crenulated to the commencement of the depressed ends; between the crenulations conspicuous simple spines inclined outwards. End-view triangular; cytioderm rough with granules arranged transversely; sides slightly concave; edges crenulate, with simple spines; angles truncate, tricuspid; viewed from the isthmus the orbicular form of the segment is conspicuous.

Long., 67 μ; lat., 52 μ.

Christchurch; Hawke's Bay.

This is the plant which in my paper of 1882 I wrongly considered as a form of S. aculeatum, Ehr. Mr. W. B. Turner tells me that he thinks it is intermediate between the smaller

forms of S. sebaldi, Reinsch, and S. proboscideum, Brébisson, The large, simple spines, and the straight or concave endsr seem to separate it from either; and the spines are not sufficiently long nor the segments slender enough for S. aculeatum. The two forms reported from New Zealand by Professor Nordstedt—S. sebaldi, β ornatum, var. novizelandica; and S. pseudosebaldi, var, tonsum—differ from it in several particulars, both being much more slender, and the last not having a triangular end-view. The large size, the depressed ends, and the conspicuous spines on the edge in end-view distinguish it from the last species.

Staurastrum pileatum, Delponte, var. inflatum, var. nov. Plate IV., fig. 42.

Frond moderate; constriction shallow and wide. Segments in front-view sub-trapezoidal, widest outwardly; sides and ends slightly convex; outer angles terminated by two rather thick spines; cytioderm smooth or very obscurely punctate in the middle, and bearing five or six transverse rows of granules towards the angles; edges obscurely irregular. End-view triangular; sides very slightly concave, angles slightly inflated and terminating in spines; granules in transverse rows near the angles only; edges smooth except by the rows of granules.

Long., 45 μ; lat., 60 μ.

Otaki.

This plant appears to differ from Delponte's species (“Desm. Subalpin.,” p. 167) in the more convex form both in front-and side-views.

Staurastrum pseudoligacanthum, sp. nov. Plate V., fig. 43.

Frond moderate; constriction deep, linear; segments in front-view sub-quadrate, but produced at the sides to sub-acute angles so as to have an irregularly pentagonal form; sides sinuous, ends straight; cytioderm smooth in the median space, and bearing towards the angles a few transverse rows of minute puncta; edges obscurely irregular or crenulate, and bearing between the lateral angles and the straight ends four or five spines, of which two at each side are conspicuous; the spines of the third angle are visible on the face of the frond. End-view triangular; sides straight, edges obscurely irregular; on each side are two spines dividing it in three equal divisions; cytioderm bearing transverse rows of puncta towards the angles, and three pairs of granules corresponding to the six marginal spines.

Long., 35.9 μ; lat., 37.9 μ.

Otaki.

The figure of S. oligacanthum, Bréb., given by Nordstedt (“Desm. Arctoæ pl. vi), differs from the above in a few

particulars, mainly in the arrangement of the spines. The triangular end-view of our species is scarcely a distinctive character, as so many of the Staurastra seem to have indifferently three or four sides.

Staurastrum spinuliferum, sp. nov. Plate V.,fig. 44.

Frond moderate; constriction shallow, wide; segments in end-view inflato-fusiform, widening rapidly from the isthmus to the angles; ends convex; angles acute; cytioderm bearing minute puncta arranged in transverse rows, and towards the angles very minute spines; many very minute spines along the edges all round, and at each angle three spines rather larger. End-view triangular; sides straight or slightly concave; cytioderm punctate; spines as in front-view.

Long., 34 μ; lat., 26.9 μ.

Hawke's Bay.

Probably of the series of which S. hirsutum, Ehr., is the type; but it differs in its acutely-angled front-view from all, and the spines are also much smaller than in any species described. Indeed, only careful examination will detect them. I have stated above that in front-view these spines are noticeable on the surface towards the angles, the median space being simply punctate: it may be that the spines cover the whole frond, but they are too minute to be made out. Mr. Turner suggests that the plant may be a form of S. kjellmanni, Wille, which has minute conical granules on the edge; but in our species they are certainly fine spines.

Staurastrum pseudassurgens, sp. nov. Plate V., fig. 45.

Segments in front view widely dilated from a rather narrow isthmus, with gaping constriction; lower edges very slightly crenulate, outer edge crenulate, convex, with a series of minute granular verrucæ just within the edge; segments produced at each side into sub-cylindrical processes, each of which curves gradually but conspicuously upwards, and ends in two rather large teeth, widely diverging, one tooth turned well upwards, the other usually horizontal or nearly so. End-view fusiform, slender, the median portion slightly dilated, the rows of verrucæ visible; two terminal teeth usually visible, but often only one. Zygospore sub-globose with concave edges, bearing a number of long rays which are forked and recurved at the apex.

Long., 29–32 μ; lat., 46–50 μ; diam. zyg. ex rad., 27 μ; long. rad., 12 μ.

Rutherford's Swamp, Otaki.

I at first considered this plant as S. assurgens, Nordstedt, having then only a sketch of the latter. I find, however, that it differs, first in size, secondly in less slender shape, thirdly in never exhibiting more than two teeth on each process. In

general appearance it approaches S. bicorne, Hauptfleisch (apud Lagerheim in lit. cum icone); but that plant has deep quadrangular crenulations on the edge in front-view, which are absent from our species. The zygospore resembles somewhat that of S. sagittarium, Ndst. (“Alg. of N.Z.,” p. 37), but is much smaller and less angular.

Staurastrum inconspicuum, Nordstedt, forma gracilior. Plate V., fig. 46.

Frond very minute; in front-view sub-rectangular, the constriction represented by concave sides, and the angles produced into short sub-cylindrical processes slightly bent in the middle and obscurely forked at the tip; two of these processes can be seen in focus at once at each end, and a third is seen either in front or behind, between each pair. End-view convexo-triangular, the angles produced in processes alternating with the three processes of the other end, which may be seen between them. Length of the frond in front-view more than twice the diameter at the isthmus.

Long. ex rad., 11.7 μ; lat., 9 μ; lat. isthmi, 4.3 μ; long. rad., 4 μ.

Otaki.

This form is more slender than Nordstedt's original plant, and rather smaller; and the specimens which I have observed are triangular in end-view, the American and European forms being quadrangular. Probably forms may exist here with either three or four sides.

Staurastrum furcatum, Ehrenberg, forma? Plate V., fig. 47.

I have only one specimen of this plant, and have not seen it in end-view: it is referred therefore here only provisionally to Ehrenberg's species. It is the one which in my paper of 1882 I considered as probably S. spinosum of Ralfs, which several authors (e.g., Rabenhorst and Wolle) refer to S. furcatum. The species appears to be very variable: my figure approaches that of Wolle (“Desm. of U.S.,” pl. xlviii.), especially in the occurrence of a process or processes on the frond near the isthmus.

Long. ex rad., 26.7 μ; lat., 16.4 μ; long. rad. circ., 5.5 μ. Hawke's Bay.

Staurastrum brachiatum, Ralfs, var. gracilius, var. nov. Plate V., fig. 48.

Frond extremely minute; constriction only a small notch; segments in front-view sub-quadrate, produced at the outer angles into long, sub-cylindrical, smooth, very transparent processes, which are deeply cut into two or three (mostly three) points; endochrome extending only to the quadrate

audible in the dense bush on misty days and on dark nights. Their favourite fishing-place was Ongohi, near Port Jackson, and their home was near the summit of the mountain. This story of the dimly-seen Turehu is told with regard to other lofty mountains in the North Island, such as Pirongia, and may refer to the war to the knife that always existed in barbarous times between the inhabitants, of the shore and those of the mountain, and that still exists in some of the islands of the Pacific. It is the inexpiable war between the conquerors and the conquered, whether we read of it in Ancient Greece or in Ancient Britain.

Hoping to gain further information on the dread the Maoris have of the interior, I obtained, through the kindness of Mr. Lee, of the survey party, one of the Maori tapu legends. This legend shows that the Ngapuhi occupied Barrier Island and the Ngatirongo the Moehau district, and recounts a raid made by the latter on the former; but, as it does not bear directly on the dread that the Maoris have always had of the interior, it need not be further mentioned.

The dread of the Turehu no doubt hindered the natives from ascending the mountain; but it is surprising that the natural indomitable curiosity of some colonists did not urge them to the summit. Several, as I have heard, made the attempt, but for one reason or another gave it up; and a successful ascent was not made until January last, when my son and I succeeded in accomplishing it.

I must, however, confess my belief that, if a suspicion existed among botanists that the top of Te Moehau was a veritable garden of rare plants that could not be found nearer than the Ruahine Range, in Hawke's Bay District, this would have been sufficient inducement to have had the mountain-top explored long ago. There was no ground for such a suspicion. The botany of the other high peaks on the main range of Cape Colville Peninsula is very well known, and, although there may be a slight variation in some of the plants, yet the vegetation on all the peaks is strikingly similar. A catalogue of the plants on Kaitarakihi, east of Puriri, and of Maruaepuke, east of Tapu, differs very slightly.

One or two of the Ruahine plants appear on Castle Rock, east of Coromandel; but this would not warrant a guess at the riches of Te Moehau in this respect.

For some years I had been hoping to explore the Moehau Range in order to complete what had been done on the rest of the peninsula, and an opportunity offered in January last, when my son was carrying on a survey in the Moehau district. The survey camp was at Torehina, in the neighbourhood of Cabbage Bay, and, as I spent a few days there before I made the ascent of the main range, I was enabled to devote some time

to the botany of the lowlands. No situation could appear more suitable for studying the botany of the district, as there is along the coast at Torehina a great variety of land-formation. A broad band of blue and green slate is succeeded by a projecting headland of breccia, and this again by beds of marly limestone that show in the streams blocks of immense fossil oysters (Ostræa wullerstorfii). This formation is again succeeded by excellent crystalline limestone, which in some places forms cubical masses built up, as it were, of immense slabs. These slabs are frequently almost entirely composed of echinodermatous fossils.

There is a large area of open fern-land, extending from Torehina to Paparoa, a distance of four miles southward, which is surrounded inland by well-wooded steep ridges.

This open country was formerly occupied by Maoris, but at present there remain only two Maori enclosures, that had at the time of my visit each a few square yards of kumara and hue (Cucurbita).

The streams on the sea side either flow over the slate in a succession of waterfalls, or cut through the marly beds, or force their way through rounded boulders of trachyte. The outlet of each stream when it reaches the shore is banked up by sand.

The beach is in many places adorned by pohutukawa (Metrosideros tomentosa), that grows in great profusion, and frequently forms large clumps that are very conspicuous when the tree is in flower. It is not only on the beach that this tree is found, but it extends inland, and grows at a considerable height on the ridges.

The trees growing with the pohutukawa are karo, horoeka (Pittosporum crassifolium, P. umbellatum), ngaio (Myoporum lætum), karaka (Corynocarpus lævigata), kowhai (Sophora tetraptera), and oho (Panax lessoni).

In sandy places, near the pohutukawa, Isolepis nodosa, intertwined with Calystegia soldanella, quite covered the ground; and in rocky places Sicyos angulatus and Bidens pilosa are sometimes very abundant.

The cliffs that rise above the breccia on the beach are covered with Mesembryanthemum, Linum, Sonchus, Astelia banksii, patches of Paspalum scrobiculatum, Bromus arenarius, Oxalis corniculata, and Arthropodium cirrhatum. Cassinia leptophylla and Veronica pubescens are not uncommon, and on the islet-rocks at some distance from the shore Coprosma baueriana is very conspicuous.

The islets near the shore are worthy of some remarks, as they extend, at various distances from the mainland, along the coast from Coromandel Harbour to Cabbage Bay. They can be observed in every stage of formation. In the first

stage the end of a projecting spur has a passage between it and the mainland; then there are islands that are left high and dry at low water; and lastly there are in some places, as at Paparoa, a long line of small islands parallel to the shore and distant from it perhaps two miles. This all tends to show the inroads that the sea has been making for ages on the peninsula. The pohutukawa is sure to be found on any of these islands, no matter how small it may be. The most interesting plants that I found on the beach were Fuchsia procumbens, Veronica pubescens, Pimelea urvilleana, and Pisonia brunoniana. These plants, though now rare, were gathered by the first botanists that landed on the shores of New Zealand, as their collections were, for the sake of safety, confined to the sea-shore, and they appear to have done their work very thoroughly. The adjectival form of the name of Banks, Solander, Forster, D'Urville, Lesson, and Cunningham is the attribute of many a plant that still flourishes on the beach in unfrequented places. The fact that Salsola australis, common at Torehina, is omitted from their collections appears to be a good reason for regarding it as a naturalised plant.

The open land is covered with the usual ericetal plants, Pomaderris, Leptospermum, Leucopogon, and Pteris; and in sheltered places kowhai (Sophora tetraptera), akeake (Dodonæa viscosa), tupaki (Coriaria ruscifolia), karioi (Rhipogonum scandens), wharangi (Melicope ternata), and titoki (Alectryon excelsum), form pretty groves. There is an abundant but apparently second growth of trees over part of the limestone formation, where Clematis, Parsonsia, Passiflora, and Lygodium are hanging from and interlacing mahoe (Melicytus ramiflorus), titoki (Alectryon excelsum), makomako (Aristotelia racemosa), and miro (Podocarpus ferruginea). The slabs of limestone are often covered with Peperomia.

This open land, as I have said before, is surrounded by steep ridges that rise abruptly from streams that flow at their base. Both sides and summit are clothed with forest that on the steep inclines appears little disturbed by man or beast. And the effect is often very pleasing, of a widespread mantle of green of ever-varying shade, extending from the stream at the base to the blue sky above. Along the streams at the base the plants most frequently seen were mahoe (Melicytus ramiflorus), wharangi (Melicope ternata), Fuchsia excorticata, Carpodetus serratus, hangehange (Geniostoma ligustrifolia), nikau (Areca sapida), whau (Entelea arborescens), and korau (Cyathea dealbata). On the steep incline the following formed the greatest part of the vegetation: Metrosideros robusta, M. hypericifolia, M. scandens, Myrtus bullata, Panax edgerleyi, P. arboreum, Coprosma robusta, Brachyglottis repanda, Myrsine

salicina, M. urvillei, Olea cunninghami, Veronica salicifolia, V. macrocarpa, Vitex littoralis, Hedycarya dentata, Laurelia novæ-zelandiæ, Bulschmeidia tawa, Litsæa calicaris, Pimelea virgata, P. prostrata, Dacrydium cupressinum, Agathis australis.

The size and beauty of the puriri (Vitex littoralis), kohekohe (Dysoxylum spectabile), nikau (Areca sapida), and ponga (Cyathea medullaris) are worthy of notice. I found the tawa was by no means plentiful, and I looked in vain for tawhero (Weinmannia).

On the highest peak, Te Matau a Maui, 1,018ft., there was a fine specimen of Veronica pubescens fully 7ft. high and symmetrically grown. Other plants, as Panax arboreum, Rhabdothamnus solandri, Astelia trinervia, were also very large. The grasses Microlæna avenacea, M. polynoda, Poa anceps, and the sedges Uncinia australis and Carex dissita formed quite a sward. On the top there is a castellated mass of porphyry trachyte, and over it Adiantum hispidulum grows in the same profusion as the Peperomia over the limestone slabs.

From the top there is a fine view of the inlets and islets along the west coast, but on the east the view is into Cabbage Bay. The streams from the hill-side into this bay end abruptly in a large swamp called the Pakorero. As this swamp appeared to offer a favourable locality for plants other than those I had seen, I spent a day in exploring it. The plants in it are few in the number of species and very common. Raupo (Typha angustifolia) forms a large part of it; then Cladium glomeratum, Juncus planifolius, Cyperus ustulatus, Sparganium simplex, Hydrocotyle asiatica, Haloragis micrantha, Drosera binata, Eleocharis acuta, and Lobelia anceps are the ordinary plants. There is an abundant growth of Isachne australis and Deyeuxia billardieri. In dry places in the swamp I observed Pittosporum tenuifolium, Aristotelia racemosa, Coriaria ruscifolia, Rubus australis, Myrtus bullata, and Coprosma spathulata.

Native grasses are plentiful about Torehina, and this will account for the number of wild cattle of which the ownership is very doubtful. The grasses I have catalogued are Microlæna avenacea, M. polynoda, Paspalum scrobiculatum, P. distichum, Isachne australis, Zoysia pungens, Dichelachne crinita, D. sciurea, Deyeuxia forsteri, D. billardieri, Arundo conspicua, Danthonia semiannularis, Trisetum antarcticum, Poa anceps, Bromus arenarius, Triticum multiflorum.

During the time I was making a catalogue of the lower ground I often looked with anxiety to the distant peak of Moehau, that sometimes appeared in bright sunshine, and at other times under a dense cloud. The distance I had calcu-

lated to be about nine miles in a straight line; but, as no European had been to the top, and as the Maoris believe that the mountain is the abode of Turehu, there was only the imagination to be relied upon for the difficulties to be encountered. On Friday, 13th January, my son was able to arrange that the survey work could go on for a couple of days in his absence, and so, by making an early start, we got to the south side of Cabbage Bay at 6 a.m. This bay we could have walked across if the tide had been out, but unluckily it was high water. A boat was at hand, and a good-hearted settler might have put us over, but such good luck is not experienced by amateur botanists. There was nothing for it but to walk round the bay, where roads and tracks are in the most primitive condition. Near the ford where the bay is crossed there is the house of a settler, who is also postmaster. This house is cut off from the other part of the settlement by an arm of the bay. Over this inlet a crossing is made by a succession of nine-inch planks, that are supported by a number of embankments. Where the water is not very deep the traveller wades through it. Now, as this is the only means of communication between the settlement and the post-office, it appears very judicious on the settlers' part to prohibit in the district the use of intoxicating drinks, as it saves the expense of a resident coroner. After crossing the planks, the next obstacle in going round the bay was to wade a tidal stream, and then, after a little dry walking, to cross a swamp. The next stream in our course was so deep that some Maoris put a boat across to ferry us over. There is a good track then to Waiaro, which appears to be an important native settlement, as the whares form a good-sized village near the sea, and there is a wide stretch of level ground. Along the Waiaro stream and in the lower part of the valley the soil is very light over the clay-slate, so that the cultivations are on the slope of the hills.

The district must have supplied a large quantity of kauri, as there is about a mile of railway and a steam locomotive. There are still some logs to be removed, but the supply from the hills seems to be exhausted. Along the valley there is no devastation of native trees. The mahoe, manuka, ngaio, puriri, kohekohe, akeake, kowhai, karaka, rewarewa, and raukawa grow well, and look all the better on account of the abundance of climbing-plants and epiphytes that over-spread them. The kohia (Passiflora tetrandra) is very abundant, and hangs down in graceful festoons over the stream, while karioi, mangemange, clematis, and tataramoa twine and intertwine as they unite tree to tree. The karo (Pittosporum cornifolium), broadleaf (Griselinia lucida), and kahakaha (Astelia solandri) grow luxuriantly in the upper parts of the branches.

After ascending the valley the top of Moehau and the undulating ridges that lead to it came into view. All the high ground is densely covered with forest, but on the lower part of the range, where the kauri formerly grew, a fire had been raging for some days before our arrival. The steep spurs were black and smoking, and some large trees were still burning; but the rain that had fallen the previous night and also during the morning had cooled the ground. My son, who was leader of the expedition and carrier of the swag, took a leading spur on the right bank of what had been a driving-creek for kauri logs, and after a steep climb of about 1,000ft. we reached the bush that had not been touched by the fire. My first impression of the ridge that we were now to follow was that it was impassable—kiekie, mangemange, and karioi twined and intertwined in the wildest confusion. Any opening between these intertwining creepers was occupied by Gahnia lacera and Astelia grandis. My guide, however, took no notice of these obstacles. Where there was no way over, a passage could be made under, and, by crawling sometimes very close to the ground, and sometimes by walking on partly-fallen trees some distance above the ground, progress was made. I was more than once advised to crawl on my hands and toes, and not on my hands and knees; but, although I have no doubt the former is the correct way, yet I feel sure that it is acquired by long practice only, so that I had to do as well as I could on hands and knees. We advanced for a couple of hours in this way, when we reached the main range. The way was now more open, and there were signs of a survey party, at some distant time, having been on the ridge, and shortly afterwards we reached the trig, station, that has an elevation of 2,054ft. The plants I observed here were those that occurred with more or less frequency afterwards on the ridge as we advanced towards the summit. They are Drimys axillaris, Melicytus ramiflorus, M. lanceolatus, Eleocarpus hookerianus, Quintinia serrata, Ixerba brexioides, Weinmannia sylvicola, Myrtus bullata, Fuchsia excorticata, Alseuosmia macrophylla, Coprosma robusta, C. fætidissima, Senecio gladifolius, S. myrianthos, Dracophyllum latifolium, Rhipogonum scandens, Astelia grandis, A. trinervia, Pteris incisa, and Polypodium rugulosum. The two last-named had no doubt arrived since the trees at the trig, station had been levelled. The largest trees on the range are tawhero (Weinmannia sylvicola) and pukatea (Laurelia novæzelandiæ.)

The ridge leading to the peaks, though it appears from a distance to undulate gracefully, was found to be very irregular. A steep ascent was followed by a steep descent, and then succeeded a broad saddle on which supple-jack, kiekie, and mangemange grow in surprising luxuriance. On these saddles

it was often doubtful what was the real summit of the ridge until another ascent and a favourable opening revealed the highest peak looming in the distance.

When sunset was near we followed down a dry watercourse for a couple of hundred yards, and found a water-hole. We camped near it for the two nights we were on the mountain, and I was surprised to notice, as we left the place, that the mere requirements for beds and fuel had so exhausted the number of trees and ferns that the camping-place looked like a clearing. The Gahnia, Freycinetia, and Rhipogonum that grow so densely on the ridge do not flourish on the clay-slate that is in loose shingle on the sides. The scanty bush covers what had for ages been extensive shingle-slopes.

The ordinary plants are Melicytus ramiflorus, Schefflera digitata, Brachyglottis repanda, Areca sapida, Hemitelia smithii, and Aspidium aculeatum. Polypodium pennigerum grows very large and stalked. I saw Lomaria nigra in two places, but I looked in vain for Loxsoma cunninghami and Lomaria elongata.

The next morning we followed up the dry bed of another watercourse, that brought us nearer to the peak, and on reaching the summit our work began. In addition to the undergrowth that was experienced before, Alseuosmia and Coprosma fætidissima formed dense thickets on the ridge, and of course there was no such thing as walking. We had literally to thread our way. If the explorer be regarded as a long needle, his progress past the vegetation will closely resemble darning. The dense tangle appeared to get worse and worse, when we suddenly struggled on to a mass of Metrosideros albiflora, and there close at hand was open ground and the rounded peak covered with stunted vegetation. Several large flat rocks hoary with Racomitrium moss were close to the dense bush, and on these were growing in great profusion Celmisia incana in full flower. Every step in the open ground not only showed that the vegetation was a contrast to that on the ridge, but also that it was unlike that of any other high peak on the main range throughout the peninsula. I could scarcely believe my eyes as each fresh plant that I saw seemed to show that I was on the top of one of the mountains in Nelson Province. There are patches of Oreobolus and Carpha alpina, studded with the mountain form of Ourisia macrophylla. Tufts of Pentachondra and Cyathodes empetrifolia are conspicuous on the little mounds of peat, and then the largest part of the surface of the ground is carpeted with lycopods, the alpine forms of Gleichenia dicarpa and of Danthonia semiannularis.

The Moehau peak is a rounded mass of augitic andesite intruded between the slate formation of which the mountain

is composed. It runs about 200ft. above the ridge in a gradual slope, and there is no part of the sides or summit bare. The open land around it may be about a hundred acres, and it is distant from the lower peak about a mile.

On the flat and rounded top the tallest plants are stunted neinei (Dracophyllum latifolium) and clumps of Phormium colensoi; while Gaultheria antipoda, Corokia buddleoides, and Coprosma colensoi are very stunted, and grow little higher than Gleichenia dicarpa, Lycopodium varium, and L. scariosum. In a sheltered part near the summit Dacrydium bidwillii, Phyllocladus glauca, P. alpina, P. trichomanoides, and Podocarpus nivalis grow well.

The following is the list of plants that I observed on the peak: Fuchsia excorticata, Panax sinclairi, P. colensoi, P. edgerleyi, Corokia buddleoides, Coprosma lucida, C. colensoi, Celmisia incana, Gaultheria antipoda, Cyathodes empetrifolia, Pentachondra pumila, Dracophyllum latifolium, Myrsine salicina, Ourisia macrophylla, Phyllocladus glauca, P. alpina, P. trichomanoides, Dacrydium bidwillii, Podocarpus nivalis, Dendrobium cunninghami, Thelymitra longifolia, Astelia linearis, Arthropodium cirrhatum, Danthonia semiannularis var. alpina, Gleichenia dicarpa var. alpina, Hymenophyllum multifidum, Trichomanes reniforme, T. venosum, T. rigidium, Lomaria lanceolata, Schizæa fistulosa, Lycopodium varium, L. volubile, L. densum, L. billardieri, L. cernuum, L. scariosum.

Some of these plants are not found nearer than the top of Hikurangi, in the Ruahine Range—viz., Celmisia incana, Pentachondra pumila, Ourisia macrophylla, Phyllocladus alpina, Dacrydium bidwillii, Podocarpus nivalis, Danthonia semiannularis var. alpina, Oreobolus australis, Carpha alpina, Gleichenia dicarpa var. alpina.

At the base of the peak, on the borders of the thick forest, Panax sinclairi, Corokia buddleoides, and Metrosideros albiflora are very abundant, but I did not see them anywhere else on the range. The Metrosideros albiflora was the only rata I saw on the mountain. On the day we reached the top there was no wind, but, as all the shrubs had the ground hollowed out at the base of the stem, it is evident that a calm is a very unusual thing at the summit. The appearance of Ruahine plants on the summit is the more remarkable, as Maruaepuke, Kaitarakihi, and Te Aroha are respectively two or three hundred feet higher; and it appears to me to prove that Moehau is the oldest land-formation on the Cape Colville peninsula.

From the top of the elevated dome, with its dwarfed vegetation, the view over the forest that covers the mountain is quite unimpeded. The sharp ridges and deep valleys are clearly visible.

There is no open line or even break in the vegetation, but

apart, and (with flowers) mostly running in three lines; ovateacuminate, dark-purple, many veined; tips recurved.

Flowers 20–40, loosely spiked on upper two-thirds of stem, distant throughout ½in.–¾in. apart, presenting a sub-decussate appearance, sessile; floral bract as long as corolla.

Calyx beneath only (corolla naked at top and sides), purple, ovate-acuminate, 2-leaved, each bilobed nearly to base; lobes long acuminate, unequal, the outer lobe twice the length of the inner one and half as long as corolla, sub-erect, divergent, their margins slightly and finely sub-denticulate and much ciliate.

Corolla sub-ascending, patent, arched, 7–8 lines long, cylindrical, mouth broadly dilated, margins recurved; the upper half purple above; base and sides white; veins darkpurple; lips whitish dashed with purple, their margins irregularly denticulate or laciniate-toothed, wavy; glabrous within, shining; the upper lip projecting beyond the lower one, deeply emarginate or sub-bilobed, lobes rounded, sometimes slightly decurved; the lower lip larger, much recurved, sub-3-lobed, lobes nearly equal in length, the middle lobe shortest obtuse rounded, lateral lobes large spreading puckered, with inner margins incurved and much rumpled and inflated, somewhat like two sub-calli, each with a large ochraceous spot or dash.

Stamens inserted near base of corolla, stout, glabrous, flexuous, about half as long as corolla; anthers reniform-orbicular, mucronate; light umber-brown. Style thick and dilated at top, glabrous, with a few (5–6) scattered microscopic glandular hairs near top. Stigma large, recurved, bilobed; lobes globular, spreading, purple, finely papillose; finally exserted. Ovary ovoid.

Hab. Parasitical on the roots of a small spreading Hydrocotyle (H. sibthorpioides, Col.), the foster plant originally brought from forests near Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1887: W. C.

Obs. This plant is in many respects a remarkable and interesting one; especially if (as I at present believe) it should prove to be a new species, as such has not yet been detected in this country, nor in the Southern Hemisphere. I will therefore briefly give its history:—

In 1887 I planted in a large-size flower-pot some Pterostylis, and Thelymitra tubers (these subsequently flowered), and with them a small neat Hydrocotyle, which I had also brought from the woods in the interior, as I wished to see its ripe fruit. The Hydrocotyle plant grew amazingly, throwing out scores of long filiform branches, 2ft.–3ft. long, and covered with flowers and fruit; and has proved to be—what I had supposed—a new species.^* Suddenly (early in September,

plexed; branches alternate, distant, straight; tips flexuous, acute. Stem 1in. high, pale, succulent, with red hairs in scattered dense bunches. Frond sub-flabellate-ovate, ½in. long, pinnately branched; branches few (4–9), simple, close not imbricate, pale-green. Leaves—lower on main stem, scale-like, distant, deltoid, entire, apiculate; nerve O, instead of a nerve longitudinal cells extending throughout to apex, and cells of lamina oblong-hexagonal: upper on main stem, close not imbricate, oblong-ovate, dimidiate, margined, slightly serrate on upper apical portion, more so on the anterior margin, tip much apiculate, biserrate: on branches, narrower acuminate: dorsal leaves on main stem, sub-orbicular, margined, much apiculate; nerve stout, extending two-thirds of leaf; cells clear, oblong, rather small, with minute cellules, smallest at margins, large at centre and base: leaves on branches narrower, broadly oval, entire, margin slightly uneven; tip very apiculate, the mucro long and flexuous.

Hob. Among stones and pumice, sides of Mount Tongariro, County of East Taupo; 1887: Mr. H. Owen.

Obs. The roots of this little plant are curious, widely differing from those of other species of this genus, no doubt owing to its high, exposed, and arid habitat. I regret not receiving any fruiting specimens.

2. H. marginatum, sp. nov.

Stem 1½in. long, sub-rigid, dry, flexuous, flattened, with distant small scarious scales, reddish with dark-red rootlets scattered in little bunches. Frond small, oblate-orbicular, ½in. wide, with 16 short spreading branches, pale-green. Leaves close, imbricate, ovate, acute, apiculate, margined, a few minute teeth near tip; nerve stout, extending nearly to apex; cells small, regular, oval, with double walls and minute cellules; dorsal leaves on main stem deltoid - rotund, margined, entire, very apiculate; nerve broad, strong, percurrent; cells small, oblong and rhomboidal, with minute cellules, very long at centre and base, smallest at margins; leaves on branches orbicular, strongly margined, minutely uneven, serrulate at tip, cuspidate, stout; nerve excurrent, stout, prominent.

Hab. With preceding, sides of Mount Tongariro; 1887: Mr. H. Hill.

Obs. A single specimen picked out from among a lot of scrap and damaged mosses.

3. H. flaccidum, sp. nov.

Stem slender, ¾in. high; branches simple, ¾in. long, loosely spreading, soft, flaccid. Leaves—on stem, ovate, acute, serrate, cuspidate; on branches, ovate, acute, serrate: dorsal,

branches long, their tips much drawn out, flagellate, with their leaves very minute and distant. Leaves alternate, subobovate-elliptic, dimidiate, close not imbricate, lacinio-denticulate on two margins, the lower side entire and nearly straight and very slightly decurrent; teeth few (5–9), very irregular in length, two (sometimes three) outermost at tip very long and straight, their sinuses large and broad. Cells minute, orbicular, sub-opaque.

Hab. Forests near Lake Waikare, County of Whakatane; 1888; Mr. A. Hamilton.

Obs. A delicate species, with the habit of P. laxa, Lehm. and Lind.

2. P. parkinsoniana, sp. nov.

Rhizome long, wiry. Plant very slender; stems distant on rhizome, 2in. long, 1 line wide, simple and forked; branches long, flexuous, leafy throughout. Leaves very minute at base and some distance up main stem, alternate, close not imbricate, sub-parallelogrammatic; tips truncate, 2-toothed, one at each angle, and generally one minute tooth (rarely two) just below on anterior margin, which is also slightly arched; posterior margin straight (sometimes slightly curved), entire, very slightly decurrent on dorsal side of stem. Cells minute, compact, obscure.

Hab. Dry sides of ravines, among other Hepaticæ, woods, Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: W. C.

Obs. A long, narrow, neat species, having affinity with P. laxa and its allies.

3. P. intermixta, sp. nov.

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Stems very slender, erect, simple, and once-forked near base, dark-coloured, shining, 1in.–1½in. long, 1/20in. wide. Leaves brownish, alternate, distant, patent, sub-oblate-orbicular, oblique, rather free, only a small portion attached to stem and half-clasping, concave, largely denticulate all round save the extreme base; teeth distant, irregular, straight, acute and obtuse, cellular, sinuses rounded. Cells small, sub-quadrilateral, larger and oblong-quadrilateral at base.

Hab. On rotten logs, growing closely intermixed with Gottschea and other Hepaticæ, woods, Dannevirke; 1888: W. C.

4. P. orbiculata, sp. nov.

Plant diffuse, spreading, sub-erect, slender, curved, 2in. long, 1 line wide, sub-bipinnately branched; branches few, very distant, simple, leafy throughout. Leaves alternate, close but not imbricated, orbicular, margins entire, slightly contracted at base with a nerve-like plait, patent, obliquely set on stem and decurrent across it, brownish-green. Cells

dendroid erect, 1½in. high; stem dark red-brown, shining, bare below, simple, also 3-branched about the middle, and sometimes dichotomous; tops of branches curviform. Leaves alternate, rather distant on stem, patent (appressed and conniving in pairs when dry, and then slightly imbricate), orbicular, 1 line wide, denticulate, pale-green, thickish, and coloured (reddish) at junction with stem, and only slightly adhering as if sub-petiolate, not decurrent; much smaller on tips of old branches, which are drawn out and very acuminate. Cells minute, distinct, sub-orbicular, with dark walls; the centre and base of leaf black-dotted (microscopically) in transverse wavy lines. Fruiting specimens not seen.

Hab. Forests near Lake Waikare, County of Whakatane; 1887: Mr. A. Hamilton.

Obs. A peculiar neat-looking species, much resembling in general appearance of stems and leaves the drawing given of Jungermannia falcata, Hook. (“Musci Exotici,” tab. 89), now Adelanthus falcatus, Mitten (“Handbook N.Z. Flora”).

8. P. spenceriana, sp. nov.

Plant densely tufted; rhizome matted, creeping, wiry. Stems slender, erect, wiry, shining, sub-translucent, brown, somewhat dendroid in the large specimens, 2in.–2½in. long, 3 lines broad (including leaves), leafy to base with the leaves decreasing in size, simple and branched; branches few, lower (one or two) diverging, long, flexuous, (male plant) generally sub-fascicled above (top of main stem) into 4–5 erect equal branchlets, each bearing a terminal spike, linear-lanceolate, obtuse, flattish, canaliculate, distichous, 1½ lines long, 10–15 jugate, their edges rounded, tips of perigonial leaves entire and slightly decurved. Leaves distant, patent, alternate, decurrent on dorsal side, biformed, olive-green: those on main stem sub-orbicular, distantly cilio-serrate at apex and upper portion of anterior margin, the posterior margin entire, recurved, slightly amplexicaul, reddish at junction with a wavy rumple or twist owing to leaf being set obliquely on stem: those on branches broadly obovate and much smaller. Cells very minute, orbicular, guttulate, crowded, obscure, with smaller cellules in their angles; slightly clearer and more regular at extreme base; those of perigonial leaves elliptic and black-beaded.

Hab. On trees, forests near Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: Mr. H. Hill.

Obs. I. This plant in its slender habit resembles P. prolifera, Mitt., although its main stems are both stouter and wider and its branches not proliferous, with leaves more closely and largely ciliate, alternate, and not coadunate; and its perigonial leaves are also entire. It is also allied to P.

exilis, Col., and P. distans, Col.,^* but differs in its entire perigonial leaves, &c., and also to P. polystachya, Col. (infra). The male spike resembles that of P. brauniana, Nees.

II. Sometimes 3–4 male spikes are found adnate on a single main stem, beginning at a little distance from the base, and so on from each other, with a few pairs of small leaves between them. A very graceful little species.

9. P. polystachya, sp. nov.

Rhizome creeping, long, much-branched. Plant erect, dendroid, stiff, 3in. high; main stem woody, simple, 3½ lines wide, leafy to base, dark-brown, branched above; branches few, long, slender, spreading, alternately and equidistantly spiked, 4–6 on a branch, the leaves between them small. Leaves green, close, imbricate at bases, regular, patent, sub-deltoid, apex broad, rounded and truncate, with a few (4–5) short teeth, and 2–3 longer and more acute at anterior ventral base, sometimes 1–3 distant and minute ones on ventral lateral margin, which is overlapping; dorsal margin very oblique, straight, entire, largely decurrent; both margins wavy and recurved. Cells small, densely crowded, orbicular, each surrounded by a chain of very minute and clear cellules. Male spikes sub-lanceolate, 3–2 lines long, deeply sulcate on dorsal surface, turgid on ventral, brownish-yellow, lower ones 9–10 jugate, gradually decreasing in size (6–4 jugate) to top, and so their intermediate leaves; also, sometimes five together are fascicled at apex. Perigonial leaves rather large, tips recurved, sharply acute, and 2–3-toothed.

Hab. In deep woods, Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: W. C.

Obs. A species having affinity with P. spenceriana (supra), but differing in its larger and more robust size, in habit, in shape of leaves, and in the apices of the perigonial leaves being toothed.

10. P. subflabellata, sp. nov.

Rhizome creeping, main stems erect, dendroid, wiry, stiff, woody, leafy to base, 1½in.–2in. high, 3 lines wide, including leaves, but narrower at base and on branches; bipinnately branched at top; branches few, regular, spreading nearly at right angles, graceful, almost sub-flabellate. Leaves very thin, pellucid, lively green, rather distant, not imbricate (young stem-leaves sub-imbricate), patent, 1½ lines long, sub-trapeziform (in outline), decurrent across stem; apex blunt, rounded; base sub-amplexicaul, wavy with a central hollow, convex, margins recurved; ventral and apical margins cilio-serrate,

Obs. A species near to “G. compacta,”^* Col. (“Trans. N.Z. Inst.,” vol. xix., p. 285), but differing in its smaller size, in its different habit of growth, in its lobes and stipules being less serrate and laciniate, and in the unique formation of its large cells.

2. G. longiciliata, sp. nov.

Plant gregarious, small, flat, spreading, broadly obovate, 1in. long, 4 lines wide at top, mostly simple, sometimes with two short opposite branches near apex. Stem stout, dark-coloured, leafy to base; rootlets numerous, wiry, dark-purple. Leaves pale-green, much and closely imbricate, translucid; ventral lobe ⅕in. long, ovate, obtuse, entire, finely serrulate; dorsal lobe short, two-fifths length of ventral, tip truncate, wide, anterior margin ciliate, not produced beyond ventral; the posterior margin oblique and much within that of ventral, with a strong plait running from the lower angle of apex to the margin of ventral. Cells large, orbicular, double-walled, with minute cellules in their angles. Stipule large, sub-orbicular (in outline), 1½ lines diameter, 4-fid, sinuses very broad, the two inner segments largest, much lacinio-ciliate; ciliæ very long, flexuous, brownish-olive coloured, 10-celled, branched, their bases 2-celled laterally within ciliæ; cells oblong, narrow.

Hab. On the ground, low damp woods, banks of river, south of Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: W. C.

3. G. longiseta, sp. nov.

Plant gregarious, procumbent, ¾in.–1in. long, broadly triangular (in outline), tip acute, pinnately branched at base; branches short, spreading. Stems stout, sub-succulent, leafy to base, thickly and coarsely matted below with dark-red rootlets. Leaves yellow-green, closely imbricated above, distant and smaller below, all margins laciniate-serrate, laciniæ flexuous; ventral lobe 3 lines long, triangular-ovate, strongly plaited at lateral junction of dorsal lobe, the plait laciniate; dorsal lobe much smaller, and within both margins of ventral, tip oblique, acute, base rounded, sub-dimidiate-cordate; perichætial leaves larger and broader, much and irregularly laciniate. Fruit-stalk 1½in. long, slender, flexuous; capsule red-brown, linear-oblong, 2½ lines long; valves 2 lines long,

linear, minutely striate, tip sub-mucronulate. Stipule very-large (for plant), sub-quadrate, 2½ lines wide, slightly bifid, sub one-fourth from tip, laciniate-serrate. Cells large, of various shapes and sizes, orbicular to narrow oblong, their walls double.

Hab. On rotten logs among ferns, where it forms large spreading patches, low woods near Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: W. C.

4. G. heterodonta, sp. nov.

Plant gregarious, light-green, sub-procumbent; steins and branches stout, succulent, 1in.–1½in. high, 4–5 lines wide at top, branched above, bipinnate, branches long, spreading. Leaves distant below, closely imbricated above, half-clasping, ventral lobe oblong-ovate, tip acute, sharply cut serrate, a thick plait from tip of dorsal, with small short plaits running to margin, and all the plaits denticulate on the under side of lobe; anterior margin slightly toothed; posterior margin laciniate-serrate; dorsal lobe, anterior base arched, produced, denticulate, the bases overlapping each other on stem; tip sub-truncate, toothed; the posterior margin curved, thick, coarsely denticulate, and much within the margin of ventral. Cells large, oval, walls thick. Stipule broadly hippocrepiform, 1½–2½ lines wide, narrowest at base, bifid half-way down, lobes truncate, tips trifid, margins coarsely laciniate all round, each lobe with 5–10 broad laciniæ; sinus broad, rounded at base.

Hab. On rotten logs, woods near Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: W. C.

5. G. steno-carpa, sp. nov.

Plant bright yellow-green, gregarious, semi-prostrate and sub-erect; stems very stout, 1in.–1¼in. long, forked at top, branches short, 4–5 lines wide; main stem narrower, with rootlets at base. Leaves close, imbricate, wavy, 3¼ lines long; ventral lobe semi-ovate, serrate, tip acute, with one short plait running from tip of dorsal lobe towards margin of ventral; anterior margin, the basal portion coarsely laciniate-serrate; posterior margin nearly entire, with 1–2 small distant teeth, bases overlapping on stem; dorsal lobe, tip narrow, truncate, with a long curved tooth at the upper angle; anterior margin somewhat coarsely serrate; posterior margin curved slightly within ventral, coarsely toothed. Involucral leaves erect, narrow oblong, largely laciniate; laciniæ wavy. Stipule bifid, laciniate. Cells large, clear, oblong, double-walled. Fruit-stalk slender, 1½in. long. Capsule narrow linear, cylindrical, 3 lines long, brown; valves linear ligulate, sub-acute, with numerous broad longitudinal dark lines, and closer finer lateral ones; cells quadrate.

Hab. On ground, forming large compact turf-like patches, low woods near Norsewood, County of Waipawa; 1886: W. C.

6. G. mitteniana, sp. nov.

Plant gregarious, pale, prostrate; stem thick, succulent, hairy beneath, with dark-red wiry rootlets in small detached bunches at bases of stipules, simple, sometimes once-branched near top, 1in.–1¾in. long, 4 lines wide at top, oblong-ovate. Leaves amplexicaul above on stem, imbricate, dorsal bases largely overlapping and wavy, distant and smaller below; ventral lobe sub-oblong-ovate (lingulate), the apical half serrate, having 2–3 small laciniations on each side with thick diagonal plaits, tip obtuse, minutely sub-apiculate, the basal half of anterior margin produced, ciliate; ciliæ long, flexuous, branched; the posterior margin finely serrulate; dorsal lobe short, sub-trapeziform, truncate; anterior margin closely and finely serrulate, increasing at tip; posterior margin straight, distant from that of ventral lobe. Cells large, rather coarse and irregular, sub-orbicular and broadly elliptic. Stipule large, sub-flabelliform-quadrate, 4-lobed, sinuses deep narrow sub-acute, very much ciliate on all sides; ciliæ long, flexuous. Numerous stipellæ (phyllodia?) in the axils, the largest sub-quadrate, bifid, tips truncate; the others narrow linear, and all largely and finely ciliate.

Hab. On ground at bases of trees, low wet woods, Norsewood, County of Waipawa; 1886: W. C.

Obs. A species somewhat resembling G. balfouriana, Hook. f. and Tayl., in general appearance, but leaves without lamellæ, and the whole plant much more ciliate, the ciliæ longer, flexuous and cellular; the basal anterior margin of leaf finely ciliate, and the phyllodia more numerous and hairyciliate.

7. G. moniliformis, sp. nov.

Plant gregarious, prostrate, obovate-oblong, ¾in.–2in. long, 4 lines wide at top, slightly branched, leafy to base, stem stout, dark-coloured, for three-fourths of length beneath covered with dense blackish-purple rootlets. Leaves close, much imbricated above; ventral lobe narrow ovate, obtuse, with two plaits running to margin from angles of tip of dorsal; the tip and apical half of anterior margin serrate, the basal half ciliate; the posterior margin entire; dorsal lobe short, three-fifths of ventral, tip truncate, broad, and toothed; anterior base rounded, produced beyond ventral and largely overlapping stem, with a few distant minute marginal teeth and 2–3 fine plaits, slightly denticulate on lateral line of posterior margin. Cells large, sub-orbicular, sometimes oval, clear, their walls broad and double, with minute cellules. Stipule

sub-flabelliform-orbicular, narrowest at base, deeply bifid (half-through) or quadrifid, the two outer lobes being smaller; sinuses large, round; all sparingly (4–5) lacinio-ciliate, the lower sides of stipule with usually one straight, horn-like cilia on each; ciliæ very long, straight, acute, peculiarly moniliform or strangulated, their alternate cells wanting or reduced to a fine black thread. Cells of stipule large, oblong, clear, their walls thick, larger at margins and at bases of ciliæ. In the axils between lobes 3–5 small patent stipellæ (or phyllodia), each 3–4 laciniate-branched.

Hab. Woods, Great Barrier Island, Frith of River Thames; 1888: Mr. C. P. Winkelmann.

8. G. epiphyta, sp. nov.

Plant prostrate, creeping, flaccid, pale - green. Stems simple, and sparingly dichotomously branched, linear, 2in. long, 3–3½ lines wide, leafy throughout, adhering its whole length beneath by its numerous dark-red rootlets. Leaves rather distant below, close and sub-imbricate above; ventral lobe narrow oblong, sub-acute; anterior margin serrate, with an auricle at base cilio-fimbriate, several plaits in the apical half, the two larger ones from below tip of dorsal lobe, running diagonally to a notch in each margin, the largest broad and raised, its edge denticulate; posterior margin serrate with a few notches, base ciliate; dorsal lobe semi-cordate, serrate, tip broadly truncate, coarsely serrate, base ciliate; anterior basal portion much rounded and produced far beyond ventral lobe, slightly overlapping on back of stem; posterior margin considerably within that of ventral. Cells large, sub-orbicular, irregular, compact, thick-walled with minute cellules. Stipule very large, sub-oblong-quadrate, 4–5-fid, cut half through, sinuses rounded, lobes large oblong, tips truncate, margins sinuate, much ciliate; ciliæ long, flexuous, curly, 2-celled at bases and springing from marginal knobs; a row of ciliæ down centre of stipule from base of sinus; cells as in leaves, but coarser. Several small stipellæ (phyllodia?) of finely-curved fimbriæ in the axils of leaves.

Hab. On trunks of tree-ferns, growing downwards, low wet forests near Norsewood, County of Waipawa; 1886: W. C.

9. G. winkelmannii, sp. nov.

Plant large, prostrate, horizontal, flat, narrow oblong or sub-oblong-lanceolate, 3in. long, 9 lines wide, tip broad, tapering and leafy to base, usually simple—a few specimens seen 1-branched about the middle, with numerous long pink rootlets from the middle and base of the stem. Leaves pale-green, membranous, imbricate; ventral lobe 4 lines long, sub-oblong-lanceolate, tip acute, the upper portion

Obs. A species allied to C. colensoi, Mitten (“Handbook N.Z. Flora,” p. 753).

2. C. spruceana, sp. nov.

Plant prostrate, creeping, 1½in.–2in. long, 2 lines wide, very pale-green; simple and with 1–3 short lateral branches; the under surface of stems clothed with very fine rootlets. Leaves opposite, close, imbricate, patent, 1 line long, sub-trapeziform or broadly pyramidal with the apex (one-fifth) cut off, very truncate, straight or slightly sinuate, 2-ciliate-horned, one at each outer angle, margined; margins entire and straight; very broad at base, decurrent. Cells very large, sub-quadrate-orbicular or sub-pentagonal, their walls double. Stipules large, sub-quadrate-reniform, with five (rarely six) cilio-fimbriæ, long, flexuous, subulate, 6–8-celled, the two lower cells geminate; connate rather broadly on both sides with leaves. Sinuses very large and broad at base.

Hab. Growing over and closely adhering to patches of Lepidozia leucocarpa (infra), low woods, Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: W. C.

Obs. The outline of leaf resembles that of Lophocolea ciliata, Mitt.

3. C. ammophila, sp. nov.

Plant prostrate, spreading, dichotomously branched at top, 1½in.–2in. long, 3 lines wide at middle of main stem, 2 lines on branches, dusky dark-green, but when young light-green. Leaves imbricate throughout, deltoid-rotund, dimidiate, very wavy, shining, entire, margined, with a strongly-marked horizontal green line running towards apex; tip rounded, obtuse and sub-acute; decurrent on dorsal stem and meeting at their extreme bases. Cells sub-orbicular, walls double with minute cellules, oval and larger at centre. Stipule large, connate on both sides, reniform, concave, recurved, ciliate-toothed; teeth few, distant, smaller at the ends.

Hab. On the ground with other small plants, sandy spots, sides of Mount Tongariro, County of East Taupo; 1887: Mr. H. Hill.

4. C. vulcanica, sp. nov.

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Plant small, sub-erect, simple and forked at base, sub ½in. high, 1/20in. wide. Leaves very close, slightly imbricated, regular, spreading, sub-deltoid, apex truncate straight, 2-horned (the upper one generally longer and curved), dimidiate, sides slightly rounded, irregularly ciliate-toothed, teeth straight; ventral margin produced at base and more ciliate, ciliæ curved. Stipule large (for plant), oblong-quadrate, retuse with ten long teeth, six at top and two at each side, connate with leaf below on both sides; margined, edges and

stout flagellæ descending from middle of stem. Leaves closely imbricate, wavy, yellowish-green, broadly sub-oblong-ovate, entire, sometimes minutely, distantly, and irregularly denticulate. Stipules narrow reniform-oblong, contracted at base, sub-amplexicaul, margins irregular, slightly and distantly toothed. Cells large, orbicular, dotted, with minute cellules in their angles. Perianth basal, shortly peduncled, green, campanulate; mouth lacinio-ciliate, flexuous; involucral leaves—inner, small, entire; outer, erect, trifid.

Hab. On rotten wood, among mosses, forming spreading patches, forests, Great Barrier Island, Frith of Thames; 1888: Mr. C. P. Winkelmann.

8. C. lingulata, sp. nov.

Stem procumbent, creeping, simple, straight, 1in.–2½in. long, 3 lines wide (in the larger specimens), spreading and growing over each other, stoutish, brown, shining, pinnatifid; lobes (or leaflets) of two sizes on stem, the lower being much smaller; cut nearly to rhachis (sometimes distinct), adnate, scarcely decurrent, alternate and sub-opposite, sub-imbricate, oblong-lingulate, entire, both margins nearly straight, the lower slightly oblique; tips rounded, very obtuse, with occasionally a very minute microscopical tooth or horn at the anterior apical corner; the segments in the small branches having their tips more truncate, and often minutely 2-horned, one at each of the outer angles; pale whitish-green. Cells large, compact, sub-quadrilateral, with free, thickish, dark rings within them. Stipules rather large, spreading, distant, bifid; tips acuminate, acute; sinus broad, the base rounded, each lobe 3–4 denticulate-ciliate; generally placed centrally under the upper lobe of a quasi pair of leaves, and sometimes at their junction on stem. Cells large, orbicular, clear, with a thick bunch of long flexuous white rootlets at base of each stipule. Perianth peduncled on ventral side near base, 4–5 pairs opposite and near each other, short, stout; perianth green, lobes long acuminate, laciniate, curved.

Hab. On the ground, damp shady forests near Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: W. C.

Obs. A species having close affinity with C. supinus, Hook. f. and Tayl., and also with C. polycladus, Mitt. This peculiarity of its leaves being biformed, and bidentate on the smaller (or younger) branches, has also been noticed to obtain in the allied form C. supinus—viz.: “in ramis junioribus folia abnormalia varie bidentata” (“Fl. Nov. Zeal.,” vol. ii., p. 142).

9. C. epiphyta, sp. nov.

Plant small, delicate, simple, and forked, ¾in.–1in. long, 1 line wide, pale-green. Leaves close, scarcely imbricate,

sub-oblong-quadrate, broadest at base, tip truncate, with a long cilia-like spreading tooth at each angle (sometimes, also, a similar tooth in the middle of sinus), sinus excised, irregular, broad and deep, margin entire; anterior margin slightly arched, and depressed near tip; posterior margin straight. Cells large, orbicular, walls double with connected linear cellules. Stipules free, small, largely bifid; lobes long, flexuous, recurved, spreading, each with 3–4 basal longitudinal geminate cells, and two small teeth on the outside; sinus very large. Perianth sessile, erect, often two together near base, campanulate; tips largely laciniate, recurved. Calyptra globose, urceolate, mouth laciniate. Fruit-stalk 8–9 lines long; valves oblong, obtuse, brown.

Hab. On trunks of tree-ferns (Dicksonia sps.), low wet woods near Norsewood, County of Waipawa; 1886: W. C.

10. C. montana, sp. nov.

Plant small, prostrate, simple, linear, flexuous, very delicate, sub ½in. long, 1 line broad. Leaves sub-opposite, close, oblong-quadrate, sides straight entire; tips truncate, irregularly ciliate-toothed; teeth 2–5 (usually 4), straight, spreading. Cells large, clear, oblong-hexagonal, regular in almost lateral bands. Stipule small, free, broadly ovate, bifid; lobes acuminate, forked; sinus large, rounded; ciliate, ciliæ few; cells as in leaves.

Hab. On ground with other small Hepaticæ, sides of Mount Tongariro, County of East Taupo; 1887: Mr. H. Hill.

Obs. This plant in its young state is whitish pellucid, leaves with fewer and more distant teeth; when aged it is longer, dark-brown, more flexuous and sub-rigid, with its leaves more distinct: unless these, from more copious and better specimens, should form two species.

11. C. heterodonta, sp. nov.

Plant prostrate, stems stout, about 1in.–1½in. long, lanceolate, 2 lines wide at middle, simple, and branched at base. Leaves green, sub-imbricate at middle of stem, oblong-quadrate; tips bifid (sometimes irregular) and much ciliate; lateral margins entire, but some leaves have one long ciliate tooth at the middle of the anterior lateral margin, or (but more rarely) one on the posterior margin. Stipule minute, free, narrow ovate, bifid, and sometimes trifid, with six ciliæ, three on each side. Cells large, clear, oblong-hexagonal.

Hab. With preceding, C. montana, Col.

Obs. This plant possesses several characters in common with C. montana, while it differs in others, which are also constant. Better specimens are wanting. I picked out both from a quantity of broken vegetable rejectamenta.

irregular (and so sinuses), long and short, acute and blunt, margins sub-repand with minute denticulations about apex; anterior margin much arched; posterior nearly straight, a little excised. Cells sub-orbicular-oblong, distinct, guttulate, obscure. Stipules patent, recurved, sub-quadrate, broadest at base and closely approaching bases of leaf but not joined, top truncate, sub 4-fid, each coarse tooth (or small lobe) again serrate, sides denticulate. Cells narrow oblong and clear at margins, smaller and more compact (yet distinct) at centre and base.

Hab. Woods near Lake Waikare, County of Wairoa; 1888: Mr. H. Hill.

Obs. Only three specimens received, mixed with other Hepaticæ.

2. M. vulcanicum, sp. nov.

Plant stout, dichotomously branched, (?) 2in.–3in. long, 1½ lines wide, dark-coloured, flagelliferous; flagellæ wiry, rigid, branched. Leaves brown, thickish, rather opaque, falcate, close-set, narrow oblong, broadest at base, with their slightly-produced anterior margins near base a little over-lapping; tips truncate with many acute teeth, the three principal ones large and sub-spiny; the lateral margins slightly denticulate below apex; anterior margin a little arched; the posterior one slightly incurved, and excised at an obtuse angle near base. Cells distinct, guttulate in longitudinal lines, alike throughout. Stipules distant, sub-quadrate, much recurved, their tips and sides largely and irregularly toothed inclining to spiny.

Hab. Among small tufts of other Hepaticæ and mosses, on the ground, Mount Tongariro, County of East Taupo; 1887: Mr. H. Hill.

Obs. A species near to M. olivaceum, Col. (“Trans. N.Z. Inst.,” vol. xix., p. 290).

3. M. smaragdinum, sp. nov.

Stems rather stout, cellular, 1in. long, sub-flabellately branched; branches forked, pinnate, very leafy throughout, much flagellate; flagellæ flexuous, stout, scaly. Leaves dark grass-green, shining, numerous, imbricate, oblong, dimidiate; tip 2-lobed, the upper lobe larger, sinus wide; margins entire but slightly uneven, the anterior one arched excised at apex, the posterior nearly straight. Cells large, very regular, sub-orbicular with minute interstitial orbicular cellules at their angles, oblong and a little larger at extreme base. Stipule free, distant, appressed, sub-quadrate, 3-fid, lobes stout, obtuse; cells as in leaves. Male inflorescence near base of stem, pedicelled, 4–5 nearly together; perigonial leaves very

Hab. On bark of living trees among other Hepaticæ, often found creeping over Metzgeria: edges of woods near Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: W. C.

Obs. Its very diminutive size and pure-yellow colour distinguish it well from all other species known to me. It is rather scarce, though from its smallness it may have been often overlooked. A similar small New Zealand species (R. strangulata, Hook. and Tayl.) is given in “Syn. Hepat,” p. 730: discovered by Hooker in 1840, but apparently omitted by him in “Fl. Nov. Zealand.;” differing, however, from this species in several characters.

2. R. lycopodioides, sp. nov.

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Plant erect in little tufts, very small, about 2 lines long, 1/30in. wide, simple and 2–3 - branched; branches and main stem all of nearly same length and size, sub-cylindrical. Leaves brownish, alternate, densely imbricate throughout, sub-rotund; tips produced over (or incised at) apex of lobule; lobule broadly oblong, tumid, rather large for leaf, being nearly half its length. Cells orbicular, small, larger at centre and base.

Hab. On branchlets of living trees among other Hepaticæ and mosses; woods near Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: W. C.

Obs. A most peculiar-looking little species; differing widely from all others known to me; resembling the tiny narrow spike of a small Lycopodium, or a minute catkin of some amentaceous or coniferous plant.

3. R. albipes, sp. nov.

Plant minute, sub ¼in. long, creeping, thickly overrunning, branched, stems cellular; light-green. Leaves alternate, broadly oval, close, but not imbricate, margined; lobe obovate two-fifths of length of leaf. Perichætial erect, sub-apiculate. Cells orbicular, compact, sub-longitudinally ranged in regular lines. Perianth pedicelled, free, campanulate; mouth slightly denticulate. Fruit-stalk exserted, white; capsule orbicular, black-purple; spores oblong and linear-oblong, obtuse, one end generally broader, sometimes slightly curved.

Hab. On branchlets of Epicarpurus microphyllus, Raoul; and on branchlets of Melicytus microphyllus, Col.; woods, Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: W. C.

4. R. epiphylla, sp. nov.

Plant prostrate, creeping, 2in.–2½in. long, bipinnately branched; branches alternate, long; branchlets short. Leaves of two shapes and sizes: (1) on main stems, close but not imbricate, sub-orbicular, anterior margin and apex rounded, the posterior less so and contracted at base; (2) on smaller

appearance, somewhat resembling a very short-stemmed, small, and plain tobacco-pipe.

2. F. intermixta, sp. nov.

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A minute prostrate species; stems stoutish, about ½in. long and 1/40in. wide, branched; branches 1–2 lines long. Leaves brownish, distant below, sub-imbricate at tips of branchlets, oblate-orbicular, sub-cordate at base, margins slightly uneven; lobule large for plant, dark-coloured, inflated, galeate, upright, tip truncate with a bell-mouth rim produced beyond margin of leaf. Stipules shortly bifid, with two acute teeth on each side. Cells sub-quadrilateral, regular, clear.

Hab. On rotten logs among other and larger Hepaticæ, particularly Gottschea; low wet woods near Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: W. C.

Obs. A peculiar little species, having affinity with F. reptans, Mitt., F. fugax, Hook. f. and Tayl., and F. pentapleura, Hook. f. and Tayl., in the shape of its leaves and lobule. Only a few specimens were obtained; probably overlooked from its very minute size and low, creeping, hiding habit. Fruiting specimens not seen.

3. F. platyphylla, sp. nov.

Plant rather large (?)—only a single branch seen; 1½in. long, 1 line wide, bipinnate, dark-brown, flat; branchlets distant, spreading at right angles. Leaves bifarious, much imbricate, orbicular, cordate, clasping, slightly overlapping at base, margins minutely uneven, particularly at base; lobule large, flat, depending, semi-circular-ovate, dimidiate; base free, broad, much arched; tip slender, acute, recurved, slightly produced. Stipule broadly reniform or sub-reniform-cordate, the sinus very small, broad, obtuse, margins slightly uneven, with a small oblong laciniate stipella adpressed at base, and a tuft of small spreading fibres below it. Cells small, orbicular, with very minute interstitial cellules.

Hab. Among mosses, &c., woods, Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: W. C.

Obs. This species strongly resembles Madotheca stangeri, Gottsche (itself a variable plant), especially when living (damp) and merely looking at its dorsal side; hence I suppose it to have been overlooked or passed by.

4. F. diffusa, sp. nov.

Plant large, dark-green, 2in.–3in. (or more) long, much branched, 3-pinnate, rather rigid, implexed. Leaves on the main stem, distant, reniform, clasping: on the branches, sub-imbricate, broadly ovate, dimidiate, sub-falcate, tips very obtuse and rounded, their cells small, obscure, sub-rhomboidal with black bead-like central points: on the young branchlets,

light-green, oval, margined, their cells sub-orbicular and of various sizes. Lobule (occasional) very small, adpressed to stem, galeate with a short beak, not produced beyond leaf. Stipule small, sub-hippocrepiform, margins entire; sinus slightly oblique, margins uneven, base obtuse; tips coarsely produced, one larger than the other; cells small, obscure. Perianth green, ovate, deeply carinate on one side, densely muricated, shining; tip obtuse, mucronate.

Hob. Forming large spreading overlapping patches on living trees, woods, Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: W. C.

5. F. cunninghamiana, sp. nov.

Plant large, greenish, prostrate, creeping, much branched especially at tips of main stems, quadripinnate; branches 1½in.–2in. long. Leaves large, close, imbricate, clasping, sub-vertical, patent, orbicular-reniform, margined; margins slightly uneven, light-brown. Cells small, guttulate. Lobule small, narrow-galeate, adpressed to stem, not produced beyond leaf, tip small, obtuse. Stipules sub-reniform-orbicular; sinus small, margined. Perichætial leaves—the inner erect, much laciniate, flexuous, waved; the outer very broad, sub-orbicular, margins crenate-sinuate; their cells large, oblong-quadrilateral below, guttulate and distinct above. Perianth oblong, trigonous, smooth, one side flat, the other largely carinate; the carina wide, blunt, not extending to mouth; tip truncate, apiculate. Capsule exserted, brown; valves broadly ovate, roughish within; tips sub-acute, abounding in elaters; elaters double-spiral, dilated at ends.

Hab. On living Podocarpus totara trees, forming large thick patches; woods, Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: W. C.

6. F. banksiana, sp. nov.

Plant small, sub-rigid, scarcely 1in. long, bipinnately branched; branches few, with two stipellæ at base of each branch, and one at each leaf. Leaves distant, oval, margins slightly uneven. Lobule close to stem, narrow galeate; tips long, recurved, partly below margin of leaf. Cells small, sub-orbicular, compact, rather obscure. Stipule broadly oblong; tip sub-acuminate; sinus deep, spreading.

Hab. On ultimate branchlets living trees, woods, Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: W. C.

7. F. solanderiana, sp. nov.

(One branch only.) ¾in. long, tripinnate; branchlets numerous, alternate, with long sub-lanceolate-ovate stipellæ at bases of branchlets; pale-brownish. Leaves broadly oval, almost rotund, sub-margined, larger on branch than on

branchlets, pale-brownish. Lobule darker-brown, free, sub-rotund, inflated, patent from stem and projecting below leaf, with a minute acute beak at centre of posterior margin. Cells small, clear, of various shapes, sub-quadrilateral and irregularly angular, walls thick and double with minute cellules in them. Stipules sub-reniform-orbicular, bifid; sinus linear, rather narrow, 2–4 coarse teeth in margins.

Hab. Among Hepaticæ (spns.), woods near Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: W. C.

8. F. curvirostris, sp. nov.

Plant small; stems stoutish, flattish, 1in. long, nearly 1 line wide, branched; branches alternate, rather long, sub-pellucid. Leaves broadly elliptic, reddish tinged; margins slightly uneven; tips obtuse and sub-acute. Cells clear, orbicular, with very minute interstitial cellules. Lobule large, purplish, galeate, arch much produced, turgid, shining; tip long acuminate, recurved, passing beyond both margin of its own and of the next leaf, slightly sub-imbricate. Stipule large, sub-orbicular, bifid, laciniate.

Hab. Woods near Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: W. C.

9. F. polyclada, sp. nov.

Plant forming close matted patches of a few inches each way. Stems 2in.–3in. long, much branched, with numerous very short patent lateral branchlets. Leaves sub-oblong-orbicular or broadly transverse oblong, one end broader than the other, olive-green (young ones and branchlets bright-green), obscure, margined; margins purple and minutely scored or marked with straight transverse lines; lobule small, galeate, tip acute, not extending beyond margin of leaf. Cells indistinct, exceedingly minute and irregular, punctulate, larger clear and broadly oblong in centre at junction with stem. Stipules narrow hippocrepiform, the sinus deep, broad at margin, with the two angles acute. Perianth terminal on short lateral branchlets, green, oblong, tuberculate, keeled sharply on one side, with two smaller carinulæ at the base, the other side flattish; tip retuse and mucronate. Capsule enclosed, globular, large. Involucral leaves large, bifid, acute.

Hab. On indurated clayey boulders, Whangawehi, north side of Table Cape; 1887: Mr. A. Hamilton.

Obs. A species very near to F. echinella, Col., but differing in its peculiar habit of growth with short starry lateral branchlets—its dimidiate margined leaves with widely different cells—its perianth of a different shape, with straight sides, and more coarsely tuberculate—and its bifid involucral leaves.

lacerate at tips, with a single acute central lobe adnate on the upper side. Flowers solitary, sometimes two together at top of scape, peduncled. Scape erect, ⅓in. high, 1–3 on a plant, one central, others lateral among leaves, with a small subulate bracteole near the top, and at the base of the peduncle of the second flower when 2-flowered. Calyx campanulate, 1 line long, finely papillose and blackish (also scape), lobes 5, cut half-way to base, veined, oblong, very obtuse or sub-truncate', each lobe 5-toothed at tip, sinus broad. Corolla (imperfect) apparently smaller than calyx, and whitish.

Hab. On sides near the top of Mount Tongariro, County of East Taupo, hidden among low herbage and mosses; 1887: Mr. H. Hill.

Obs. I. This peculiar little novelty has some affinity with the small New Zealand species D. pygmæa, DC. (also found in Australia and Tasmania), but differs from it largely in several characters—as, in its 5-lobed calyx with the lobes obtuse and toothed, its 2-flowered scape, its want of the conspicuously large tuft of silvery stipules at the base of the scape (so very striking a character in that species) and in its still smaller size. It is also allied to D. uniflora, Willd., another small rosulate species of Fuegia and the Falklands; from which it also differs in the shape of its calyx-lobes, and in being 2-flowered, and in some other characters.

II. Unfortunately, perfect flowering specimens I have not seen. Indeed, these specimens that I have were only preserved after a great deal of pains and patient labour, for they came to me in little, mouldy, dry, and hard turfs (1in.–2in. long), as cut up out of the black boggy soil in which they grew, and not a single leaf of Drosera was, distinguishable, and scarcely anything else, those turfs having been also roughly packed, wet, on the spot, and so dried and squeezed in carrying and long-keeping; hence the delicate and small corollas of the Drosera (and other plants) were all more or less imperfect. It was only after soaking the turfs in water, and patiently washing and going over them with a stout needle and a camel-hair pencil, that I managed to clean and obtain my specimens. From those turfs, however, I secured more than a dozen plants of the Drosera, but not all bearing flowering scapes. Those little lumps also contained several other minute plants, one of them proving to be a Muhlenbeckia, sp. nov.,^* and the following, which I have also determined: viz., Claytonia, sp., Stackhousia (?) minima, Haloragis, sp. (probably H. minima, Col. ^†), Hypoxis, Carex, sp., some barren mosses, a few very minute Hepaticæ, Cladonia, (?) sp. nov., with small black

nous-coriaceous, green above, very pale (almost dead-white) below, glabrous, but slightly and finely pubescent at margins; veins obscure and much reticulate on upper surface (compoundly anastomosing, having copious areolæ between them with free veinlets (somewhat like, those of some ferns—ex. Polypodium billardieri), seen clearly when held up between the eye and light; petioles pubescent and ciliate, 1⅓–3 lines long, flattish at junction with lamina, sub-trinerved. Stipules short, broadly-ovate, sub-acute, pubescent, the lower connate. Flowers rather large, opposite, supra-axillary, single, and 2–4-fascicled on short, stout, rigid peduncles; pedicels, calyx, and corolla sub-hyaline-membranaceous, very pubescent, pale-greenish with dark-purple stripes and dashes; calyx rather large, half the length of corolla, cup-shaped, 4-lobed, two long and two short lobes, each pair opposite and adpressed, the long pair linear obtuse, the short pair broadly ovate and sub-acute; corolla 1½–2½ lines long, 4-fid cut nearly to base; lobes linear (or linear-oblong), obtuse, recurved: male (flower larger than female)—pedicel short, stout, curved; the corolla coarsely and sub-strigosely pubescent, oblong and pendulous before expanding, lobes much revolute in flowering; stamens large, exserted, pendulous; filaments 3 lines long, finely pubescent, white, their bases flattened; anthers 2 lines long, linear-oblong, stout, greenish-white; tips acute, bases sagittate: fem.—styles 2, stout, 4 lines long, obtuse, white, densely pubescent: herm.—as m. and fem. (supra) conjoined in one flower, the styles a little longer and narrower, sometimes 5–7 lobes to the corolla: and the three kinds of flowers on one branchlet. Drupe small, globular, 2 lines diameter, white, glabrous, shining, semi-pellucid, flesh juicy and sweet; nuts 2, flattish-hemispherical, convex on one side flat on the other, 1 line diameter, white.

Hab. Dry woods south of Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; flowering October, fruiting April, 1887 and 1888: W. C.

Obs. I. This is a highly curious species, presenting a very peculiar aspect, both when in foliage only as well as when in flower; differing greatly from all the other species of this genus known to me. Its very long, lithe, pendulous, and strictly divaricate branches—their few small, orbicular, and distant leaves, with their two contrast colours—and its large and exposed flowers—give it a unique appearance; to which may also be added the novelty of its pure-white fruit—rare in this genus.

II. It does not appear to be very common here (where so many other of its congeners abound), and it was some days before I succeeded in finding a single female plant—though I subsequently detected 3–4 others. Another shrub was hermaphrodite, or, more strictly speaking, polygamous—the first,

I think, I have ever known of this genus, so pre-eminently diæcious.

2. C. multiflora, sp. nov.

Tree erect, 15ft.–18ft. high, much branched throughout and very leafy; bark grey, soft, wrinkled; branches and branchlets very numerous, opposite, not divaricate, sub-erect, spreading; ultimate branchlets thickly pubescent; hairs brown. Leaves small, plentiful, opposite in single pairs, and 2–3 pairs together at tips of branches and short lateral branchlets, the single and the outer pairs always the largest, very membranaceous and soft, sub-orbicular with apices retuse and cuspidate, and broadly-elliptic much acuminate with tips acute, 3–4 (sometimes 5) lines long, their bases gradually tapering into the petioles, glabrous, green on both sides, a little paler on the lower surface with scattered long whitish sub-strigillose weak hairs (young leaves very hairy below), margined and finely crenulate; veins light-red, reticulate, conspicuous on both surfaces; petioles 2–3 lines long, broad and trinerved at junction with limb, very slender at base, densely hairy on undersurface; hairs adpressed, sub-strigose; stipules ovate-acuminate, very hairy, their tips glabrous, shining. Flowers: fem. very numerous, axillary, mostly sub-fascicled in threes, sometimes single, and 2 together; calyx very small, tube shortly 4-cleft, slightly puberulous (having a double appearance from their close connate stipules, that are larger, with longer acute lobes). Corolla small, 1 line long, green, glabrous, campanulate, 4-lobed, cut scarcely half-down; lobes ovate, acute, recurved. Styles 2, slender, 3 lines long, acute, pink, spreading. Drupe small, globose, 1½–2 lines diameter, slightly depressed at apex, dark-purple, glossy; nuts 2, very small, hemispherical, about 1 line wide; one thick, flat on one side and very gibbous, the other much thinner, scale-like. Male flowers not seen.

Hab. Low woods south of Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; flowering November, fruiting April, 1887–88: W. C.

Obs. I. This species will naturally rank among the larger ones of this genus. Its striking character when in flower is the prodigious number of its ♀ blossoms, covering the whole surface of the tree from top to bottom, which—from their being coloured and visible from a distance—has a most striking effect. When I first saw it—looking down on it from an open glade in the hill-forest's side—I could not conceive what plant it might possibly be, its whole outside being suffused with a delicate pink hue. It is the only known species of this large and increasing genus bearing such a character. I was much disappointed, however, subsequently, on seeking its fruit (on two occasions—when immature in February, and when ripe),

for I only detected a few, scattered singly here and there on a large leafy branch, many large branches being without any.

II. I sought diligently throughout several days for the male plant, but was unsuccessful. Is it likely that the great paucity of its fruit, very unusual in the genus, was owing to the scarcity of male specimens?

3. C. coffæoides, sp. nov.

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A small tree, slender, erect, 12ft.–15ft. high, perfectly glabrous throughout, bark smooth light-grey; much branched; branchlets erect, scarcely cylindrical, stout, drooping in fruit. Leaves decussate, distant sub-2in. apart on main branches, coriaceo-membranous (membranous and flaccid when young), oblong inclining to obovate-lanceolate, tips sub-acute, slightly mucronate, recurved, tapering to petiole; margins entire, but slightly and closely serrulate (sub lente), generally of two sizes—(1) large, on main branches, 3½in.–4½in. long, 2in. broad, petioles ½in., stoutish; (2) smaller, on axillary branchlets; darkish-green above, a little glossy, paler and dull below; primary veins diagonal, prominent below; venules obsoletely reticulate. Stipules large, deltoid-acuminate, ¼in. long; tips thickened, hard, acute, black. Flowers: male, peduncles axillary, the middle one ¾in. long; flowers sessile in glomerate heads, 20 and upwards, with several small leaflets interspersed, and narrow oblong bracts at base, their margins minutely ciliolate; calyx a small shallow circular cup, its margin nearly even; corolla pale-green, narrow campanulate, 3 lines long, 4- (sometimes 3-) lobed; lobes one-third length of corolla, ovate, tips sub-acute, recurved; stamens 4 (but only 3 in 3-lobed corolla), slender, exserted, pendulous, flexuous, thickened at top, 3–4 lines long, minutely pilose; anthers narrow oblong, sub-acute, 2 lines long, deeply grooved, largely sagittate: fem., clustered, decussately arranged on short axillary branchlets or peduncles, 1in. long, forming dense, crowded, sub-glomerate heads—20–40 (or more) together; peduncles compressed, with short opposite branchlets or sub-peduncles, each bearing 5–9 sessile flowers, and usually with 1 minute leaf at its base, the main peduncle often continued and produced at top into a leafy branchlet; calyx 0; corolla very small, yellowish-white, 1/10in. long, somewhat tubular, broadest at top, 4- (sometimes 3-) lobed; lobes very short, obtuse, slightly recurved, their margins dark pink-red, stigmas 2 (rarely 3), short, sub 3-lines long, erect, white, stoutish, obtuse. Drupe glossy, 3–3½ lines long, broadly ovoid, sub-compressed, sides furrowed, tip obtuse, sub-truncate; when quite ripe oblong-ovoid, turgid, juicy, vermilion. Seeds narrow ovoid-acuminate, 3 lines long, slightly curved, somewhat rugulose, dull dirty-white.

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(teeth very small) and entire, sometimes but rarely sharply serrate, their bases produced much beyond the stem on the opposite side, membranaceous, decreasing in size upwards, distant; veins largely anastomosing. Flower-heads not large, 3–4 lines diameter, disposed in spreading loose corymbose panicles; peduncles 2in.–4in. long, much and dichotomously branched above; pedicels ½in.–1in. long, very slender, with scattered small bracteoles throughout. Involucre small, campanulate, 1½ lines long (4 lines diameter when spread out flat), glabrous, glistening, slightly rugulose and scabrid at base; lobes 13, oblong-ovate, about 1 line wide, suddenly sub-acuminate, their centres thick, 2–3 dark-green stripes, 1–2-nerved, nerves yellow; margins membranous, pellucid, very broad, much imbricated, finely and regularly lacerate; tips pilose (semi-tufted), hairs white; several (5–8) small subulate spreading bracteoles with pilose tips close to base. Flowers bright orange-yellow, glabrous, all florets much dilated at bases of tubes. Receptacle white, flattish, alveolate, the alveoles large, sub-quadrilateral, with high-toothed borders, and punctulate in centre, edges of punctures raised. Ray-florets 10, ligulate, 3½ lines long, much recurved; ligule oval, largely veined; veins about 8, the main ones forked at apex; tip retuse, with two small notches, extending far beyond stigmata; the tube short, one-third length of floret, its style glabrous, recurved, tips not dilated, and when spread out not so wide as ligule. Disc-florets very numerous, 40 and upwards, tubular, 2½ lines long (about two-thirds length of ligulate florets), narrow campanulate or sub-infundibuliform at mouth; anthers included; lobes veined; tips erect, sub-acute. Pappus erect, 2 lines long, fine, white, scabrid; tips acute. Achene linear, 1/10in. long, sub-4-sided, deeply sulcated on two opposite sides, pale-brown, glabrous, but minutely hairy in lines on the angles; hairs short, white, distant.

Hab. “Face of pumice rocky boulders near the sea, Whangawehi” (cliffs, north side of Table Cape, East Coast); January, 1888: Mr. A. Hamilton.

Obs. I. This plant is certainly allied to S. banksii, Hook. f.,^* also to S. velleioides, A. Cunn. (an Australian species); but, after much examination and study, I believe it to be specifically distinct from both. Having received plenty of good specimens from its discoverer, Mr. Hamilton, and being very desirous of clearly ascertaining the true position of this fine plant, I have very closely and exhaustively examined it, as will, I presume, be allowed from the description given

above. It differs from S. banksii (vera) in several characters: that plant has “linear-oblong leaves, slender blunt involucral scales, very short ligulæ” (ray-florets), and “long achenia.” (“Flora N.Z.,” vol. i., p. 147.) It also differs from the allied Australian species, S. velleioides, in the much shorter bracts and shorter disc-florets (and probably very much broader ray-florets) of this plant. Bentham, in his description of S. velleioides, says, “Involucral bracts 3–4 lines long, with a very few small outer ones; disc-florets scarcely exceeding involucre.” (“Flora Austral.,” vol. iii., p. 668.)

II. Hooker, under S. banksii (l.c.), has also given, with a doubt, two New Zealand varieties of that species: one of them, “var. β velleia,“may prove to be identical with this plant. Unfortunately, Hooker says but very little about its differential characters, but that little is more in agreement with this plant. I quote his remarks: “Var. β (?) velleia; robustior, foliis rigide coriaceis subtus glaucis venis prominulis, capitulis latioribus, acheniis brevioribus.” And, again: “The vars. β and γ may belong to different species, but my specimens of them are very indifferent. Var. β is a very thickly leathery-leaved plant, with stout stem and branches of the corymb, which bears very numerous broader heads, that have much, shorter achenia.”

I may further observe that Hooker also gives the hab. and discoverers of S. banksii and its two varieties thus: “Hab. North Island, East Coast; Banks and Solander, Colenso.” And the facts pertaining to the same, taken in connection with the discovery of this plant by Mr. Hamilton on the north side of Table Cape, seem to point to something more than a casual coincidence: for Banks and Solander were only on shore on the east coast at Poverty Bay and Tolaga Bay, a few miles north of Table Cape; and my specimens were also detected by me in nearly that same locality—viz., between Tolaga and Poverty Bays—in travelling along the east coast early in December, 1841. I have never visited Table Cape.

[Since writing the above I have referred to some brief notes of that journey, written by me at the time to Sir W. J. Hooker (to accompany my specimens), and shortly after published by him in the “London Journal of Botany,” vol. iii., p. 16: from them I make the following extract:—

“Dec. 9th, 1841.—I was fortunate enough to obtain here on the clayey cliffs three species of Compositæ quite new to me. One (No. 25) grew commonly about the bases and faces of the low clayey and sandy cliffs, and often attained the height of 4ft.–5ft. Another (No. 46) was found in similar situations, and of the same height as the preceding: the peculiar glaucous leaves of this last, so much resembling those found on the flowering

quently smaller), thickish, margins entire; mid-rib prominent on under surface, veins obscure, petiolate; petioles stoutish, half length of leaf, channelled above. Bracts (ochreæ) entire, bladdery, pale red-brown, very numerous. Perianth solitary, sessile or sub-sessile, rugulose, a little shorter than fruit, closely adpressed, fleshy (in some specimens), 5-lobed, lobes cut half-way to base, oblong, sub-acute; nut 1½ lines long, rhomboidal, triquetrous, angles obtuse, sides concave, tip acute, black, smooth not shining.

Hab. On the sides and near the summit of Mount Tongariro, county of East Taupo, almost entirely hidden among low small herbs and mosses; 1887: Mr. H. Hill.

Obs. A very minute, peculiar, and distinct species, of which, unfortunately, I have only a few specimens, found by me concealed in little turfy lumps of dark boggy earth, brought from the mountain by Mr. Hill.^* The leaves and fruit had mostly fallen off from their branches through damp and close packing, but the bracts remained, and all were perfect, though I only obtained about half a dozen nuts and perianths, and have not seen any floral organs.

2. M. paucifolia, sp. nov.

A low prostrate rambling shrub, extending 5ft.–6ft. Branches stout, bark glabrous, longitudinally wrinkled and channelled, dark red-brown. Leaves few, scattered, light-green, broadly elliptic and sub-rotund, 3–6 lines long, obtuse, sometimes retuse, glabrous, rarely contracted at middle, submembranaceous, veins anastomosing obscure (visible when dried); petioles half as long as leaves, slender, channelled above, finely and closely tuberculate; stipules ovate, acute. Flowers in terminal racemes at tips of short lateral branchlets; racemes simple, short, about 1½in. long, finely pilose, each bearing 5–7 (rarely 9) flowers, alternate and rather distant; bracts (ochreæ) rather large, open, glabrous, pale reddish-brown, obliquely truncate, acuminate with one long stout sub-aristate nerve; margins entire or finely and shortly ciliate (sub lente), each bearing a single flower; pedicels longer than bracts. Perianth (and pedicel) white, lobes cut half-way to base, oblong, obtuse, conniving; stamens longer than lobes; anthers sub-orbicular, didymous, sub-versatile, white. Stigmas small, red, glabrous, acute. Ovary (immature) pink, slightly tuberculate.

Hab. On mounds of indurated pumice, &c., at Whangawehi, north side of Table Cape; December, 1887: Mr. A. Hamilton.

Obs. This species of Muhlenbeckia presents a peculiar appearance, from its stout almost gnarled branches, few pale-green leaves, and numerous short lateral branchlets tipped with flowers, whose pedicels are also white. It is allied to M. complexa, Meisn., and to M. microphylla, Col., but is widely different from both.

3. M. trilobata, sp. nov.

Plant decumbent, much branched and implexed, rising twining and climbing over low shrubs and herbage. Branches long, striate, densely pubescent; hairs short, patent, red-brown. Fem.: leaves alternate, distant, membranaceous, glabrous, green, 1in.–2in. apart, broadly ovate (in outline), ¾in.–1¼in. long, ¾in.–1in. wide, wavy, sub-panduriform, deeply trilobed, largely cordate; lobes much rounded, apical lobe large, sub-sagittate; tip suddenly acute and sub-apiculate; sinuses broad; margins red, sub-entire, irregular; midrib prominent on the under surface, pubescent on the upper; veined; veins very closely and compoundly reticulate, having copious areolæ between them with free veinlets, but somewhat obsolete when fresh. Petioles ½in.–¾in., sub-terete, channelled above, soft, pubescent; cauline stipules (ochreæ) large, truncate, nerved, pubescent on nerves. Flowers irregularly disposed, usually in axillary racemes 2 together; racemes rather slender, nodding, 2in.–2½in. long (sometimes panicled with 3 basal branches from 1 peduncle, and sometimes in a large loose panicle 5in.–6in. long, distantly and gracefully branched in 8–12 racemes), vaginant; vagina rather large, very membranous, sub-pellucid, cup-shaped, margin laciniate; the flowers sub-fascicled 2–4 from each vagina, largely exserted, close-set but not crowded; pedicels jointed, capillary, 2 lines long. Perianths pale - green (sometimes, but rarely, with bright-red bases), 2 lines diameter, membranous, free from ovary, glabrous; lobes shorter than nut, broadly spathulate, not cut to base; sinuses broad; tips rounded. Stigmas 3, sub - clavate - orbicular, papillose, spreading; anthers very minute, abortive. Nut black, shining, broadly elliptic, 2 lines long, triquetrous, one side broader and flat, free from perianth. Male (also, sometimes, hermaphrodite): leaves much smaller. Racemes axillary and terminal, slender, simple, 1in.–2in. long; floral bracts distant; 4–5 flowers in 1 sheath; perianth membranous, greenish-white, sub-campanulate; tube longer than lobes, free; stamens longer than perianth (and nut), flexuous, spreading; anthers exserted, orbicular, emarginate and cordate, didymous, red. Nut sometimes as in female.

Hab. In woods south of Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1888: W. C.

Obs. This is a pleasing, handsome, and striking species,

from the extreme gracefulness of its slender pendulous open racemes, and the regular shape of its peculiarly-formed leaves. Sometimes the leaves of other and allied species assume a contraction in the middle, giving them a kind of sub-panduriform shape, but none are so deeply and so regularly lobed as these. This character pertains alike to both male and female plants, although the leaves of the male plant are very much smaller than those of the female.

4, M. truncata, sp. nov.

A slender rambling climbing twining shrub, rising to 8ft.–9ft. among shrubs and trees. Branches very long and slender, flexuous, closely twining, thickly pubescent; hairs very short, red. Fem.: leaves membranous, numerous, scattered, sometimes fascicled in pairs, broadly oblong, ½in.–¾in. long, sides straight, tip obtuse rounded rarely apiculate, base truncate; dull pale-green, glabrous, wavy, opaque; margins entire, red; veined, veins slightly anastomosing. Petiole very slender, almost capillary, 4–5 lines long, puberulous. Cauline bracts long, truncate, margins entire. Flowers disposed in simple short racemes ½in.–1in. long, and 5–12-flowered; raceme vaginant; sheaths small, reddish, funnel-shaped, oblique, with 1 long stout excurrent nerve; margins finely serrate. Pedicel short, scarcely longer than sheath, with a single narrow line of pubescence. Perianth small, shorter than nut, whitish or very pale-green, very membranous, free; lobes oblong, obtuse, appressed and spreading, not cut to base, 1-nerved; veins finely reticulated (sub lente). Nut very small, about 1 line long, sub-rhomboidal or broadly lanceolate, trigonous, sides equal, angles obtuse, ridges irregular, brownish-black, dull not glossy. Style 0. Stigmas 3, large, flabellate-orbicular, spreading, plumose, reddish. Male: leaves smaller and slightly contracted at the middle. Flowers both axillary and terminal in simple short racemes ½in.–1in. long, 8–15 on a raceme, usually a single raceme in a sheath; pedicel very short, scarcely extending to mouth of sheath. Perianth-lobes obovate, cut nearly to base; tips rounded, incurved. Stamens exserted, spreading, straight and slightly flexuous; anthers white, sub-orbicular-elliptic, margined.

Hab. In same locality as the preceding species, M. trilobata; but neither of these species was commonly observed, while the larger species—“M. adpressa, Lab.” (but ?)—abounds, attaining to a very large size, and forming impassable thickets; 1888: W. C.

Obs. This species is a more slender and implexed plant, and rises considerably higher, than M. trilobata: its smaller and fewer flowers, and entire strictly truncated and smaller leaves, arrest the attention at first sight when compared, and

lanceolate, beaked, many-nerved, glossy; margins of the upper half (not apex) largely serrate; tip truncate. Achenium lanceolate.

Hab. Half-concealed among low herbage, open grassy plains at Tahoraiti, south of Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1887: W. C.

Obs. This little species has pretty close affinity with C. colensoi, Hook. f. It is, however, a smaller plant, differing in several characters, particularly in its broader and flatter leaves, its fewer and slenderer spikelets, broader and tri-coloured glumes, with larger membranous margins, narrower and beaked utricles, long scabrid styles and stigmas, and narrow (not “orbicular”) achenium (as shown in dissections of C. colensoi—“Fl. N.Z.,” tab. 63B).

2. C. polyneura, sp. nov.

Plant loosely tufted, branched below, spreading, light-green. Culms erect, 7in.–9in. high, smooth, bluntly triquetrous, leafy. Leaves sub-rigid, linear very acuminate, 8in.–9in. long, ¼in. wide near base, flat, smooth, shining, channelled, much striate (sub 22-nerved), sheathing; sheaths-membranous, sub-truncate, bifid and sub-laciniate, coloured; ligule large, diagonal; keeled, upper portion of keel scabrid; margins slightly recurved and finely serrulate, most so at tips; tips filiform, acute, recurved. Spikelets 5–6, erect, axillary, bracteolate, rather distant, ½in. long, cylindrical, stoutish, obtuse, the lowest peduncled; peduncle slender, rigid, 1in. long; the top one wholly male, narrow, obovate; the others with few or no male flowers at their bases; the lower bracts long and leafy; the upper ones very narrow, short, erect. Glumes broadly ovate, bifid, purple, closely reticulated; margins membranous and finely laciniate; awned, awn as long as and longer than the glume, green, rigid, sharply and closely serrulate. Utricle longer than glume, sub-orbicular or broadly elliptic, 1 line long, turgid, smooth, shining, convex on the outer side, slightly concave on the inner, somewhat beaked, bifid, pale-greenish below, dark purple-brown above. Stigmas 3, short, pinkish, very scabrid. Anthers long, linear, brown; tips acute.

Hab. Edges of streamlets, woods, south of Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1887: W. C.

3. C. longiacuminata, sp. nov.

Plant large, dark-green, tufted with short surculi. Culms stout, erect, 2ft. 9in.–3ft. high, leafy, smooth, angles obtuse; bract-leaves long, the lowest longer than culm, 4 lines broad, keeled, margins and keel finely and closely serrulate. Leaves shorter than culm, same width, &c., as bracts, slightly rigid,

climatic conditions stamped so plainly on the surrounding vegetation that even the most incurious cannot fail to notice them.

That plants cease to grow or increase in volume when the temperature of the air and soil fall below a certain point is too well known to require more than mention; but the degree of cold at which growth ceases varies extremely when many species are observed. For instance, some plants grow only during the warm summer months; others, again, lie dormant during that season, as many of our cultivated bulbs, putting forth their leaves and flowers in autumn, in spring, and even in winter.

That there is a degree of cold which will put each species to rest, and another which would terminate its existence, may, I think, be safely assumed. Between these two effects—the suspension of growth, and death—other effects—the fall of the leaf, and the destruction of the overground portion or ascending axis of the plant—sometimes take place.

Evidently some species are incapable of exhibiting the lastmentioned phenomena, death immediately following the suspension of growth.

Taking again our former examples—the laurustinus and the guelder-rose—we commonly see those shrubs growing together in our gardens, the former in full leaf when the latter is quite bare. A further diminution of temperature, instead of assimilating the appearance of these species, would destroy the laurustinus, leaving the guelder-rose uninjured.

We thus arrive at the conclusion that the evergreen habit may be absolute or conditional; and, secondly, that, though a species may remain unaltered when exposed to a temperature which deprives others of their leaves, the latter may be the hardier, or capable of surviving through the greatest degree of cold.

Of the absolute and conditional evergreens this district furnishes some instructive examples. Thus, the Olearia, hectori,^* evergreen in other parts of the colony, is a deciduous shrub in the Pelorus Valley, where it grows in low situations outside the bush, associated with Plagianthus betulinus, Sophora tetraptera, and Fuchsia colensoi, which are also deciduous.

Again, along the shores of the Pelorus Sound the karaka (Corynocarpus lævigatus) is very plentiful; but, finding that it did not occur in the inland valleys, I some years ago raised plants from seed, which were immediately cut to the ground by the first severe frost, and thus destroyed. In this case the

deep, cold soil of the Pelorus Valley assisted, I have no doubt, in producing the results; still, the fact remains that death followed the suspension of growth without the intermediate effects. From this example we also learn how very close to the verge of their climatic range species are sometimes to be found.

Among deciduous trees the time at which the leaf falls varies considerably when a comparison of species is made, and slightly in the case of individuals of the same species. Thus, in this part of these islands the walnut, ash, Lombardy poplar, and others begin to shed in April, and are quite bare early in May. The weeping willow (Salix babylonica), on the other hand, retains its leaves till June—sometimes to the shortest day. But the retention of its leaves by the latter species depends to a certain extent on the situation in which the trees grow: for instance, where the roots are in contact with running water the leaves turn yellow and fall earlier than do the leaves of trees occupying warm ground. We can thus see that the fall of the leaf is hastened, in species capable of assuming the deciduous habit, by the condition of the soil, just as death is hastened in the case of the absolute evergreen species.

As might naturally be expected, species which lose their leaves early in autumn resume them late in spring, and vice versá. To this general rule I have observed a marked exception—the lemon-scented verbena (Aloysia citrodora), which is here deciduous. Though this tree never sheds its leaves before the end of May, and sometimes retains them till the middle of June, it is, of all my cultivated species, the last to come back into leaf. From the peculiar behaviour of this plant I long suspected that in a slightly milder climate it would become an evergreen: this conjecture I found to be correct, for at The Rocks, Queen Charlotte Sound, a specimen during several winters remained in leaf. The distance between the Pelorus Valley and The Rocks being less than twenty miles in a direct line, the climatic difference must be very small; still, it is sufficient to turn the scale from a deciduous to an evergreen habit, and, as we shall presently see, from a herbaceous to a deciduous or semi-evergreen habit.

This last example shows how the deciduous habit may be reversed as well as induced, and, though exact experiments are wanting, there is good reason for believing that the process of reversion, or converting deciduous into evergreen plants, is possible in all cases, though the capacity for assuming the deciduous habit is confined to a limited number of evergreen species. From this we might conclude that the evergreen is the original form, a conclusion which is strengthened by the fact that certain deciduous species are evergreen when young.

The passage of the deciduous plant into the herbaceous.

under the influence of cold can be well observed amongst our cultivated fuchsias, some of which in this climate merely lose their leaves, while others have their stems wholly or partly cut off. Of several varieties I find Fuchsia fulgens the most susceptible of cold. It is the first to shed its leaves on the approach of winter, during which the stems are invariably destroyed, even when the plants are kept within the shelter of a verandah; yet a specimen taken from here to the Rocks, before mentioned, retains not only its stems, but a portion of its leaves, and on one occasion I noticed it in flower during the winter months.

One more effect of cold—the dwarfing-down of vegetable forms—requires mention: This is well illustrated by our Alseuosmia macrophylla, which in the North Island is a bushy shrub 4ft. to 5ft. in height, but here rarely exceeds 1ft., the stem being seldom branched.

From the foregoing considerations and examples we seem to arrive at the following general conclusions: That, though the majority of existing evergreen plants would at once perish were the temperature of the air and soil in which they grow reduced below a certain point, a few, owing to some structural peculiarity, would shed their leaves or suffer the loss of their stems before they finally succumbed, and that in this latter fact we have the immediate origin of the deciduous tree.

The effects of cold consequent on the changing seasons and the effects produced by the artificial removal of species from their proper habitat to higher latitudes, come within the scope of observation and experiment; but we have now to consider a portion of our subject of a more speculative character—namely, the effects of a lowering temperature through climatic changes.

That various portions of the earth's surface have, during different periods of their history, been subjected to very different climatic conditions is one of the most important facts made known by the researches of geologists. In Europe, where the grape now ripens the reindeer once roamed; and here, in the Wairau Valley, within a few miles of where I write, are the moraines of an ancient glacier shown in the Upper and Lower Travers hills, the latter being only about 1,000ft. above sea-level.

The climatic changes which the earth has undergone are plainly referable to two causes. One, alteration in the elevation of the land, converting low land into alpine climates, is easily understood; the other, though its operation has been on a much more extensive scale, remains, as far as I am aware, yet undiscovered. I refer to the Glacial Period, that followed after the deposition of the tertiary rocks in the northern hemisphere.

We cannot from observation explain the formation of alpine floras, but wherever they exist we see that they correspond in their general aspect with the flora of the surrounding region. Thus, the mountains of Australia and Tasmania are clothed with plants essentially Australian, evergreen trees ascending to the limits of arboreal vegetation.

In like manner, typical New Zealand species—such as Veronicas, Coprosmas, and Pittosporums—are found in our alpine heights. Nor do the few deciduous trees we possess particularly affect those elevated regions. One only seems to owe its deciduous habit to the alpine cold, Plagianthus lyalli, which the late Sir J. Haast observed as “a deciduous tree at and above 3,000ft., but evergreen below that line.”

The two allied species, Plagianthus betulinus and P. divaricata, both deciduous, belong to the lowland country; the former, in this district, invariably growing on the low rich land of the inland valleys, the latter fringing the tideway throughout the sound. A careful scrutiny of the flora of any extensive and varied region will at once reveal the fact that the horizontal and vertical range of species do not always coincide, for it is not the plants of the highest latitude which are invariably found closest to the summits of high mountains. The reason of this becomes apparent when we examine the distribution of the plants within any limited mountainous district traversed by deep valleys, bearing in mind as we do so what has been so clearly pointed out by Liebig in his “Natural Laws of Husbandry”—viz., that “all plants which give landscapes their peculiar character, clothing the plains and mountain-slopes with perennial green, have an underground development, according to the geological or physical condition of the soil, admirably adapted to their perennial existence and propagation.” In this district, for example, we have two very distinct classes of land, the low alluvial flats of the valleys, and the steep hill-sides, with an intermediate class consisting of level terraces, composed of rock-fragments imbedded in gravel and clay.

Now, in the alluvial flats and hill-sides respectively we find certain species of plants which never encroach on each other's territory, though most of them intermingle on the terrace lands. Amongst those which most strictly adhere to their proper habitat are the deciduous Plagianthus betulinus and P. divaricata before mentioned. As both species range to the southern portion of the island we are forced to conclude that it is not inability to withstand cold, but an inability to adapt themselves to any other than the deep soil in which they invariably grow, that determines their vertical range.

It can thus be seen how, in the process of selection which must take place through the elevation of a portion of a

hitherto low-lying region clothed with evergreen vegetation, and the consequent climatic changes, other causes beside the mere lowering of temperature would assist in determining the upland flora, and that amongst the species thus selected those capable of assuming the deciduous habit might be only in part included, or might be wholly omitted.

We may now turn to the second class of climatic changes to which portions of the earth have been subjected. Though the causes which operated to bring about the cold of the European glacial period are unknown, there is abundant evidence that prior to its commencement that continent enjoyed a climate as mild as, or milder than, at present prevails. Whether during this pre-glacial epoch an evergreen vegetation clothed the plains and mountains cannot well be determined, but the fact that Australian forms are found amongst the fossil-plants of the Swiss miocene rocks at least suggests that the flora of the northern and southern hemispheres did not differ as widely then as now.

Assuming that Europe at the close of the tertiary epoch supported a vegetation similar to what is now found in corresponding southern latitudes—that evergreen trees, with a small percentage of deciduous forms, then prevailed—let us ask what would have been the effect of the coming-on and subsequent passing-away of the glacial cold.

Before approaching this question it may be well to review what is known of the glacial period. That movements of upheaval and subsidence on a considerable scale took place in Europe during the continuance of the glacial cold is evidenced by the deposits of the period and the present distribution of animal life on the continent and adjacent islands.

Thus, in the commencement of the period when the cold was most intense, the continent extended westward of the area now occupied by the Hebrides and Ireland, the land being generally higher than the existing islands.

Towards the middle of the period a movement of subsidence commenced, and continued until only what are now the tops of the highest British mountains remained above water, forming an archipelago of small islets, amongst which drifted masses of floating ice, depositing where they grounded quantities of débris, which still remain on the mountain-sides in the form of stratified deposits, containing marine shells. This movement of subsidence was followed by one of elevation which brought the British Islands to their present level. As the land rose, the cold, which had abated during the downward movement, again increased, though not to what it had previously been. Although the greatest cold of the glacial period in Europe was coincident with the greatest elevation of the land, we cannot in any way ascribe the great climatic

changes to alterations of level. Indeed, the most with which we can credit the movements referred to is that they may have helped to bring about the fluctuations of temperature which took place, the minor acting in conjunction with the major cause.

By picturing to ourselves an extension southward of the Arctic regions, and a consequent narrowing of the temperate zone, with a subsequent movement in the opposite direction, we shall probably obtain a fairly correct idea of the climatic changes which took place in Europe between the commencement of the quaternary epoch and our own time. Obviously the effect of those changes, as selective and differentiating agencies, on the vegetation of the region must have been very great. As the temperature lessened, the power of endurance in every species would be tested to the utmost, and all the phenomena displayed by plants under the influence of cold would be exhibited, such as the dwarfing - down and the assumption of the deciduous habit, or, to borrow a term from the zoologist, passing into a state of chill coma.

During this ordeal many species would inevitably perish, and some hitherto evergreen would become deciduous; thus the proportion of the latter to the former would be increased.

Here the question naturally arises, would the deciduous tree have any advantage over the evergreen while these climatic changes were taking place? Or, to put the question in another form, beside the mere loss of vital energy, would the evergreen tree suffer in any way through the lowering temperature while the deciduous form escaped? This, I think, may be answered in the affirmative; for in the winter of 1860 a light fall of snow which visited the Pelorus Valley destroyed numbers of trees throughout the bush, owing to their not being able to sustain the unusual weight. Judging by what then happened, I am satisfied that, were a tithe of our winter rainfall converted into snow, the mixed forests in this district would completely disappear in a few years. On the destruction of the larger trees would follow the death of the undergrowth to which they afford shelter, and which in turn protects the all-pervading surface-roots of its protectors.

Once broken into, and the surrounding conditions permanently changed, our mixed forests are doomed: this the effects of the removal of timber for commercial purposes and the running of cattle in the forests daily teach us.

None of our deciduous trees except the generally-diffused Fuchsia excorticata being found within the precincts of the bush suffered from the fall of snow referred to. Their slender, naked branches could not accumulate a sufficient weight to cause breakage; while, not being overshadowed by loftier trees, they did not incur danger from falling timber. Our

Plagianthus betulinus and Sophora tetraptera, growing as they do in small groves, the trees far apart and interspersed with brambles—Rubus australis and other tangled bushes—invariably recall the woods of the mother-country when observed in winter.

That these deciduous trees would soon overspread much of the low land in this valley were the mixed forest removed, and thus give a more boreal appearance to the district, is shown by the abandoned clearings made by the natives prior to the introduction of cattle and foreign weeds.

Whatever may have been the nature of the European flora at the commencement of the glacial period, when the cold attained its maximum the aspect of the region would be completely altered. What was previously, and is now, the north temperate would be included in the frozen zone, and the limit of arborescent vegetation removed far south.

Having evidence that the reindeer then roamed throughout central France, we cannot give to the shores of the Mediterranean a climate milder than is at present enjoyed by the British Islands. Thus shorn, as it were, of the most genial portion of its climate, the vegetable production of Europe would be correspondingly reduced. Only those species capable of withstanding severe cold and of adapting themselves to every variety of soil could survive the southward movement of the flora enforced by the climatic changes.

As we have seen that the tendency of the lowering temperature would be to induce the deciduous habit, and that in the struggle for existence during the increasing cold the deciduous would have a certain advantage over the evergreen tree, I think we may reasonably conclude that, however largely the latter preponderated in the upper tertiary flora, in the remnant that survived the glacial period the proportion would be greatly altered, perhaps reversed.

A comparison of the British flora with that of New Zealand reveals, besides the deciduous habit of the arborescent species, so frequently referred to, other general differences that demand explanation. For instance, though the phanerogamic plants of the British Islands exceed those found within the New Zealand group, the latter flora contains a much larger number of arborescent forms, while, again, the British species belong to fewer genera and fewer orders than are represented in New Zealand. In the northern flora we seem to have the more or less altered descendants of a few original types, in the southern flora the waifs and strays from some rich and varied botanical region.

As the glacial cold abated, as the snow disappeared from the mountain-heights and the plains were freed from their

icy bondage, the soil capable of supporting vegetable life would demand forms suitable to its varying condition. To supply this demand there would be the scanty remnants of the tertiary flora before referred to—for Europe, cut off from the warmer regions of Africa by the waters of the Mediterranean, would be more dependent on these resources than if it were a portion of an uninterrupted mass of land stretching southward to the torrid zone.

When commenting on the unavoidable destruction of the tertiary species by the glacial cold, I pointed out that deciduous trees would probably form a conspicuous feature in the surviving remnant. Another peculiarity of this remnant would be the preponderance of herbaceous plants; for wherever we observe the effects of a low temperature, whether in high altitudes or high latitudes, we find a larger number of herbaceous than arborescent species.

As Europe, when the glacial cold was at its height, lay entirely within the colder regions of the earth, we may fairly conclude that this was one of the characteristics of its vegetation.

If we now suppose the European continent, as its climate gradually improved, to be reclothed with vegetation by its glacial flora, through a mere multiplication of the individual plants, we can readily imagine how monotonous would be the effect. But such a result would be impossible, for in so diversified a region, and with constantly changing climatic conditions, expansion could not take place without giving rise to variation. New varieties and species would thus appear, the flora being thereby enriched in forms specifically distinct, but belonging to a few generic and ordinal types.

Returning to the British flora, we can now see how the various points in which it differs from the corresponding southern flora—the prevalence of deciduous trees, the preponderance of herbaceous plants, and the comparatively few orders represented—seem capable of explanation by the effects of the glacial cold.

If the prevalence of deciduous trees in the north temperate zone is the result of certain former climatic conditions, it necessarily follows that the vegetation of the southern zone has not been subjected to similar conditions.

To what, then, must we refer the evidence of ice-action in parts of these islands where light falls of snow now rarely occur?

To this question I shall not venture a reply, not having a sufficient knowledge of the geology of the southern hemisphere. I may, however, state that the glacial moraines of the Wairau Valley before mentioned might be accounted for by a former elevation of the land. That the land throughout

this portion of the globe was at some former period more elevated than at present is proved by the distribution of the fauna. For example, Tierra del Fuego and Tasmania must have formed integral portions of the adjacent continents, and the various islands of the New Zealand Archipelago, including the Chathams and Lord Howe Island, were directly or indirectly connected. Still, even if we could show that the evidences of ice-action now observed were due to the period of elevation, it would not in any way prove that the southern hemisphere has not undergone climatic changes similar to those which took place in the north. There is no reason to look for such a difference in the histories of the two regions; for a careful consideration will enable us to perceive that, if the distribution of land and water during that time was analogous to what it is now, the glacial cold may have been simultaneously experienced in both hemispheres, though its traces cannot be readily discovered in the southern vegetation.

For instance, were the island of South Georgia, situated in a latitude corresponding with the north of Scotland, to become capable of supporting vegetable life, it would require stocking from entirely foreign sources. Being at present enveloped in ice to sea-level, it is, of course, destitute of vegetation. A flora having such an origin could afford no direct clue to the former history of its region. If during the glacial period the climates of the northern and southern hemispheres bore the same relation to each other as at present, the condition of the New Zealand Islands, supposing they existed, must have been analogous to that of South Georgia. At most, a scanty vegetation might have been found in the low lands in the northern portion of the group. Under these circumstances the present flora must be chiefly of recent foreign origin, and we discover in it certain general characteristics that seem to favour this view. For instance, the tropical nature of the forest-vegetation, so frequently remarked, has been always accepted as evidence of a former distribution of land which enabled a more northerly flora to extend its range southward. On the other hand, our open lands and mountains furnish numerous species which might belong to colder climes in a colder period. Nor is the presence of plant-remains allied to our forest-vegetation in deposits older than the glacial period necessarily opposed to the recent introduction of this portion of the flora, for there is good evidence that a portion of the vegetation removed by the glacial cold in Europe returned to its old habitat. Thus, in an upper cretaceous deposit at Aix-la-Chapelle, associated with fossil remains of Pandanaceæ and Proteaceæ, are species of the genera Quercus and Juglans now proper to that part of Europe. Though a rigorous process of selection and much differentiation has taken place between

and presenting no trace of the beautiful buff-yellow so conspicuous in Sula serrator. It is also rather smaller, and the shape and colour of the bare skin at the base of the bill are different. In the masked gannet the bare skin extends a little beyond the corners of the mouth, and then crosses the throat in an almost straight line, while its colour in the adult bird is a deep blackish-blue. This dark colour contrasts vividly with the snow-white feathers of the head and neck, and is doubtless the reason why the bird has received the common name of the “masked gannet.” In Sula serrator the bare skin is continued under the throat for a considerable distance in the shape of a narrow triangular stripe, and its colour is a pale leaden-blue.

Like our species, it forms no true nest. On Curtis Island its single egg was placed in a slight depression among the scanty tufts of short grass which form the chief vegetation on the top of the island. The females are quite exposed while sitting on the nest, and from their white plumage form very conspicuous objects; but, as they are strong and powerful birds, well able to defend themselves from all enemies, their exposed position is probably no real disadvantage to them.

Few birds have a wider geographical range. Drs. Finsch and Hartlaub, in their well-known book on the avifauna of Central Polynesia, state that it has been found in the following localities: The Atlantic Ocean, near Ascension Island; the Red Sea; Cocos Island; the Straits of Sunda; Torres Straits and North Australia; Polynesia, from the Sandwich Islands southwards to Samoa, and westwards from the Paumotu group to the New Hebrides. It seems probable that it also exists on the coasts of both North and South America.

2. Gygis candida (Silky White Tern).

While conversing with Mr. Bell respecting the birds of Sunday Island he alluded to a small white tern which visits the island every November to breed. From his description of the plumage, & c., and account of its breeding-habits, I concluded that it would probably prove to be this species. During the last breeding-season Mr. Bell made further notes on it, and has now sent me these, together with specimens of the egg. As his notes, and the shape, size, and colour of the egg agree exactly with the published accounts of Gygis candida, I have now no hesitation in considering it to be that species. The bird, which is a most beautiful one, is rather smaller than our common tern (Sterna frontalis). It has a slender body, long wings, and deeply-excised tail. The whole of the plumage is pure-white, and of silky softness. The bill is long and curved slightly upwards, dark-blue at the base, shading off into black at the tip. Its breeding-habits are peculiar. Mr.

Cheeseman.—On Birds from the Kermadec Islands.

Bell writes, “It lays its solitary egg high up on the pohutukawa trees, on a horizontal branch not much thicker than a man's wrist. The bird sticks to the egg and keeps it in its place until it is hatched.” This statement is corroborated by what is known of its habits in some other localities. Mr. Cuming, the well-known conchologist, observed it on Elizabeth Island, and says, “It was breeding on a kind of pandanus, its single egg being deposited on the horizontal branches, in a depression which, although slight, was sufficient to retain it in position despite of the high winds and consequent oscillations to which it was subjected.” Mr. Cuming adds that the old birds were flying about in thousands like swarms of bees, and that he noticed several breeding on the same tree. Several young birds were observed lying dead on the ground, from which it appears that they frequently drop from their dangerous resting-place. However, it does not always breed on trees; for Dr. Graffe, a German collector, found it resting in hollows of the bare rock on one of the islands of the Phænix group.

Gygis candida is found throughout the whole of Polynesia, along the Australian coasts northwards to Torres Straits, and from thence through the Malay Archipelago to India. It has also been recorded from the west coast of Africa.

3. Phaeton rubricauda, Bodd (Red-tailed Tropic Bird).

This beautiful bird, so familiar to all voyagers in the warmer parts of Polynesia, has long been known to breed as near to New Zealand as Norfolk Island, and occasional stragglers are at long intervals captured by the Maoris residing near the North Cape, usually after a succession of heavy northerly gales. Few Europeans, however, have seen it in New Zealand waters, and the only specimen obtained, so far as I know, is one shot by Mr. Henry Mair near the Three Kings Islands, and now in the possession of Sir Walter Buller.

When at the Kermadec Islands last year Mr. Bell informed me that the tropic bird breeds regularly on Sunday Island, arriving in October and remaining until the close of summer. I therefore inserted the species in my list on his authority. I have now received from him several roughly-prepared skins and some eggs which prove that it has been correctly identified. Its appearance, habits, and geographical distribution are too well known to require mention here.

The following record of the temperature at Sunday Island in 1887–88 has been made by Mr. Bell, and forwarded by him to Mr. Percy Smith, Assistant Surveyor-General. As no meteorological observations of any kind have been pre-

Auckland Islands, and on the 25th January we anchored in Carnley Harbour. Having ascertained from Captain Fairchild that the vessel would not leave until the following evening, I at once prepared for an expedition to the hills, on which I was informed that albatrosses were then breeding; and at 4 o'clock in the morning the chief officer put me ashore. The first creatures I met were several sea-lions sleeping in the long grass, over which I almost fell. They gave discontented growls at being disturbed and driven from their lair, sitting up on their haunches and gazing at the intruder with their large eyes, showing their white canine teeth all the time. Moving onwards I had a dreadful scramble through dense low scrub interspersed with holes and swampy places, but at last I gained the hills above. My exertions caused me to suffer greatly, being far from well through overwork on the west coast of the South Island. After climbing over hills for about three miles I came to a slope where a colony of albatrosses had established a breeding-place. The birds were scattered about among the tussock-grass, sitting on their nests, and from their white plumage could be easily distinguished from the vegetation at a great distance. I found that their nests are always placed on sloping ground, and always on the most exposed side of the hill. They are composed of earth and grass cemented together, and are built in the form of a cone. They are usually about 2ft. in diameter and about 18in. high. Outside they are surrounded by a shallow drain, intended to carry off the surface-water. Within is placed a single egg. This is white, with a few brown spots on the broad end, and measures about 5·5in. in length by 3·lin. broad. In most cases I found the female on the nest, the male bird standing close to her, and occasionally feeding her. I noticed that sometimes the male relieved the female, but they never both leave the nest until the young one is able to defend itself against the skua gull (Lestris parasiticus). This rapacious bird devours every egg or nestling left unprotected. While taking the measurements of the first nest I came to I laid down the egg beside me, when a skua darted at it and destroyed it. They were so bold that they frequently came close enough for me to hit them with a stick.

On my approaching an albatross's nest the old bird seldom left it, but set up a croaking noise, clapping its mandibles together and biting at the intruder. After turning it off and taking away the egg, it returned and sat on the nest as before. The eggs were quite fresh on the 25th January, and good for eating when fried. There appears to be a difference in the time of laying at the different islands, for at Campbell Island, considerably to the south of the Auckland Islands, their eggs

matter is not the stranger's visit, but that it has not been recorded before this, for the Brown Gannet, or Booby (Sula fusca) has been obtained in nearly all the temperate regions of the globe, in many cases doubtless as a straggler; but now a specimen has been shot here in the bay, and is before you this evening very nicely preserved by Mr. Yuille. Mr. Smith, of the Masonic Hotel, has added the specimen to his collection, which is becoming extremely interesting and valuable. I have had considerable trouble in looking up any description of this species, which is common in the Atlantic, but at last found a good account in a work by Lathom, published in 1785, rather more than a hundred years ago. This I have transcribed, and have added a few particulars from other sources respecting the habits of the bird.

Lathom's “General Synopsis of Birds” (1785), Vol. iii., Pt. 2, p. 612. Common Booby:—

Pelecanus Sula. Lin. Syst., 1, p. 218, 7.

Le Fou. Briss. Orn., vi., p. 495, 1; Buf. Ois., viii., p. 368, pl. 29. Anseri Bassano congener fusca avis. Raü. Syn., p. 191, 6; Sloan, Jam., p. 322., t. 271, fig. 2.

Booby. Brown, Jam., p. 481; Catesby, Car. 1, pl. 87.

Description.—Size of the lesser gannet: length, 2ft. 6in. The bill nearly 4½in. long, toothed on the edges, and of a grey colour; base of it pale-brown; space round the eyes, and the chin, bare of feathers, and covered with a yellowish skin; irides pale-grey; the head, neck, upper parts of the body, wings and tail, cinereous-brown; the greater quills much the darkest; the tail brownish at the end, and in shape greatly cuneiform; the breast, belly, thighs, and vent white; legs pale-yellow; claws grey.

Catesby observes that these vary—some have white bellies, and others not—and that there is no perceivable difference between male and female. The young birds have the head and neck white, with a slight tinge of brown; but may be distinguished from having the feathers of those parts downy and soft, and not the usual texture.

Place.—Inhabits the Bahama Islands; and we believe likewise very common in many other parts of the world. One specimen came from Cayenne. It probably may be the sort mentioned by Dampier as being so plentiful in the Island of Aves, eight or nine leagues east of Buenos Ayres, which is described as a very simple creature, that will hardly go out of a man's way. These are said to build their nests on the ground in places where no trees grow, but make them on the last whenever they can be found. The flesh is black and fishy, yet is often eaten by the privateers. Is also met with in New Guinea.^* This has been seen at Kamtschatka;^† is found in the Faeroe Isles; and has also been met with on our own coasts [England] a few years since.^‡

The term “booby” is applied by navigators more particularly to the Brown Gannet (Sula fusca), which inhabits the desolate islands and coasts where the climate is warm, or even temperate, throughout the greater part of the globe. The apparent

parent stupidity of the boobies is proverbial: calmly waiting to be knocked on the head as they sit on shore, or perching on the yard of a ship till the sailor climbs to their resting-place and takes them off with his hand, they fall a prey to the most artless birdcatcher. Even Byron's shipwrecked wretches, though—

Stagnant on the sea,
They lay like carcasses,

“caught two boobies and a noddy;” and the incident actually did occur in Bligh's celebrated voyage consequent on the mutiny on board the “Bounty,” when he and his boat's crew were in a most deplorable state. “Monday, the 25th,” says Bligh, “at noon, some noddies came so near to us that one of them was caught by hand… In the evening, several boobies flying very near to us, we had the good fortune to catch one of them… I directed the bird to be killed for supper, and the blood to be given to three of the people who were most distressed for food; the body, beak, and feet I divided into eighteen shares… Tuesday, 26th, we caught another booby; so that Providence appeared to be relieving our wants in a most extraordinary manner. The people were overjoyed at this addition to their dinner, which was distributed in the same manner as on the preceding evening, giving the blood to those who were the most in want of food.”

Dampier says that on the Alcranes Islands (Alacranes), on the coast of Yucatan, the crowds of these birds were so great that he could not pass their haunts without being incommoded by their pecking. He observed that they were arranged in pairs, and conjectured that they were male and female. He succeeded in making some fly away by the blows he bestowed on them, but the greater part remained in spite of his efforts to compel them to take flight.

De Gennes, in his voyage to the Straits of Maghellan, says that in the Island of Ascension there were such quantities of boobies that the sailors killed five or six at a time with one blow of a stick.

The Vicomte de Querhoent says that the French soldiers killed an immense quantity on this same island, and that their loud cries when disturbed at night were quite overpowering.

This apparent exception to the general rule of self-preserving instinct is so remarkable that we are led to look for some cause, and perhaps this may be found in the structure of the animal; for, according to many writers whose veracity cannot be doubted, the boobies stay to be taken and killed after they have become familiar with the effect produced by the blows or shots of their persecutors.

In the case of most animals which, from not knowing his power, have suffered man to approach them to their destruction, alarm has been soon taken, the idea of danger has been speedily associated with his appearance, and safety has been sought in flight; but the wings of the booby are so long and its legs so short that, when once at rest on level ground, the bird has great difficulty in bringing the former into action, and when so surprised it has no resource but to put on a show of resistance with its beak, which is, to be sure, generally despised by its persecutor.

In the cases recorded by Bligh the birds were probably fatigued by wandering too far from the rocky shores which are their ordinary haunts. There they are generally to be seen constantly on the wing over the waves which beat at the foot of the crags, intent on fishing.

Though so well furnished with oars they are said to swim but seldom or never to dive. Their mode of taking their prey is by dashing down from on high with unerring aim upon those fishes which frequent the surface, and instantly rising again in the air. They walk with difficulty, and when at rest on land their attitude is nearly vertical, and they lean on the stiff feathers of the tail, like the cormorants, as a third point of support. The ledges of rocks or cliffs covered with herbage are the places generally selected for the nest, and there in great companies they lay their eggs, each hen bird laying from two to three. The young birds for some days after hatching are covered with a down so long and thick that they resemble powder-puffs made of swan's down.

The boobies seldom wander more than twenty leagues from land, to which they usually return every evening; and their appearance is considered by mariners as a sure token of their vicinity to some island or coast.

The colour of the Sula fusca, or Brown Booby, is blackish-brown or ashy-brown above and whitish beneath; the primaries are black, and the naked skin about the head is reddish; the orbits and base of the bill are yellow, and the point of the bill is brown; the legs are of a straw-colour. In length the brown booby is about 2ft. 5in, the bill measures 4½in. or thereabout, and the tail 10in. The young birds are spotted with white and brown.

It is almost impossible to open the pages of the old voyagers who have fallen in with these boobies without finding some accounts of the constant persecution to which the latter are subjected by the frigate or man-of-war birds.

Lesson, indeed, doubts this. He says, “The boobies have been so named because it has been supposed that the frigates compel them to disgorge the fish which they had taken; but this appears to me to be erroneous. The booby is

warlike, he lives fearlessly near the frigate, and swallows the fish which he has captured in peace.”

Cuvier, Buffon, and Temminck, on the contrary, give credence to the narratives of the frigate's persecution, and, indeed, it is difficult to believe that so many eye-witnesses should be mistaken.

Feuillée says, “I have had the pleasure of seeing the frigates give chase to the boobies. When they return in bands in the evening from their fishing the frigates are in waiting, and, dashing upon them, compel them all to cry for succour, as it were, and in crying to disgorge some of the fish they are carrying to their young ones. Thus do the frigates profit by the fishing of the boobies, which they then leave to pursue their way home.”

Legnat, in his Voyage, writes thus: “The boobies come to repose at night upon the Island Rodriguez, and the frigates, which are huge birds, so called from their lightness and speed in sailing through the air, wait for the boobies every evening on the tops of the trees. They rise, on the approach of the latter, very high in the air, and dash down upon them like a falcon on his prey, not to kill them, but to make them disgorge. The booby struck in this manner by the frigate gives up his fish, which the frigate catches in the air. The booby often shrieks, and shows his unwillingness to abandon his prey; but the frigate mocks at his cries, and, rising, dashes down upon him anew till he has compelled the booby to obey.”

William Dampier observes that he remarked that the man-of-war birds and the boobies always left sentinels near their young ones, especially while the old birds were gone to sea on their fishing-expeditions, and that there were a great number of sick or crippled man-of-war birds which appeared to be no longer in a state to go out for provisions. They dwelt not with the rest of their species, and, whether they were excluded from their society or had separated themselves voluntarily, they were dispersed in various places, waiting apparently for an opportunity of pillage. He adds that one day he saw more than twenty on one of the islands (the Alcranes), which from time to time made sorties to procure booty. The man-of-war bird that surprised a young booby without its guard gave it a great peck upon the back to make it disgorge—which it instantly did—a fish or two as big as one's wrist, which the old man-of-war bird quickly swallowed. He further speaks of the persecution of the parent boobies by the able-bodied frigate-bird, and says that he himself saw a frigate fly right against a booby, and with one blow of its bill make the booby give up a fish just swallowed, upon which the frigate darted with such celerity that he seized it before it reached the water.

Catesby and others mention seeing similar encounters.

Nuttall says, “The boobies have a domestic enemy more steady though less sanguine in his persecutions than man: this is the frigate pelican, who, with a keen eye descrying his humble vassal at a distance, pursues him without intermission, and obliges him by blows with his wings and bill to surrender his finny prey, which the pirate instantly seizes and swallows.”

The booby utters a loud cry, something between that of the raven and the goose; and this is heard more particularly when they are pursued or when, assembled together, they are seized with a sudden panic. Their nests, according to Dampier, are built in trees in the Isle of Aves, though they have been observed in other places to nestle on the ground. They always associate in numbers on the same spot, and lay one or two eggs. The young are covered with a very soft down. Nuttall says that they abound on the rocky islets off the coast of Cayenne and along the shores of New Spain and Carraccas, as well as in Brazil and the Bahamas, where they are said to breed almost every month in the year. In summer they are not uncommon on the coast of the Southern States of North America. The flesh he describes as black and unsavoury.

2. Ardea novæ-hollandiæ.

The White-fronted Heron.—This species is not nearly so common as the Common Blue Heron (Ardea sacra), and I have not seen a specimen for many years; but the one now before you was killed at Waipawa in May last. It is now in the collection of Mr. Smith, of the Masonic Hotel in this town.

3. Anthornis melanura.

The Bell-bird has almost disappeared from Hawke's Bay and the Seventy-mile Bush for some years. The specimen before you was procured at Takapau, and the sender informs me that they are once more appearing in that district.

4. Eudynamis.

Amongst a collection of New Zealand bird-skins sent to the Museum I found a skin of what appeared to be Eudynamis with the long tail-feathers imperfect, some not fully grown. On taking up the bird to ticket it, I saw that the breast, instead of the usual brown marks, was distinctly transversely barred with black metallic bars, as in the Bronze Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx). These bars extend from the beak to the vent. The bill is less robust than Eudynamis. The feet are light in colour, like those of an albino specimen. It has certainly the character of Eudynamis when seen from the back; but from the under side it suggests a cross between Eudynamis and Chrysococcyx.

former article one-third longer than two latter together; cubital joint somewhat linear, radial rather shorter than cubital, viewed from above somewhat cup-shaped; digital joint large, globose; springing from near articulation of joint is a brownish, irregular, triangular, semi-detached process, at extremity nearly as broad as long, fore-angles prolonged into two apophyses, outer black-brown, stout, pointed; inner longest, membranous, lake-brown, concave within; side-face of bulb spiral, glossy, outer circle broad, pale; inner circle red-mahogany; beneath the dark-brown, membranous, free apex is a black, pointed process; lamina bulbi broad-ovate, placed rather beneath bulbus, hairs rather sparse.

Falces brownish-yellow; conical, project moderately at base in front, directed rather forwards, exceed humeral joint of palpus in length.

Maxillæ yellowish-brown; fore-part broad, rounded, inclined towards labium, which is dark chocolate-brown; oval one-third broader than long, strongly everted.

Sternum cordate; yellow-brown, dark margin.

Abdomen oviform; ground-colour umber-brown, series of pinkish, purple-tinted flecks on either side of dorsal band, which is less defined than females, dark-brown near spinners; ventral surface brownish.

Female.—Geph. th., long, 1; broad, 1. Abd., long, 2·1; broad, 1·8. Legs, 1, 2, 4, 3 = 6·5, 5, 4, 3 mm.

Cephalothorax yellowish-brown, dorsal band and marginal zone olive-brown, former commences at thoracic fovea, bifurcating above junction of caput, to posterior eyes; glabrous; oval, moderately compressed forwards; pars cephalica convex, rounded, lateral index about equal to space between a hind-lateral eye and the hind-central furthest from it; fovea somewhat oval, caput groove and radial striæ moderately defined; profile-line rises slightly across ocular area, somewhat level to limit of caput, slopes moderately to base; clypeus vertical, height rather exceeds diameter of a fore-lateral eye.

Eyes on black eminences, laterals most prominent; posterior row moderately recurved, of about equal size, nearly equidistant, central eyes separated by an interval equal to their diameter and a quarter, about one-third less than their space from fore-centrals; anterior row recurved, median pair about one-third size of laterals, scarcely their breadth apart, about that interval from side-eyes; interspace between laterals rather exceeds that between posterior median pair.

Legs shade lighter than cephalothorax, rather faint annulations on tibiæ and metatarsi; moderately slender; black hairs, long, slender spines.

Palpi pale yellow-brown; slender, about length of cephalothorax; armature, hairs, and bristles.

Falces and cephalothorax concolorous; conical, directed rather forwards, project somewhat in front at base; fangs small, reddish-brown.

Maxillæ, fore-half broad, convex, rounded, moderately inclined towards labium, yellow-brown. Lip one-third broader than long, recurved; chocolate-brown, margin pale.

Sternum yellowish-brown; cordate.

Abdomen oviform; umber-brown, flecked with large and small pinkish, purple-tinted, somewhat metallic spots; dorsal band brown, sinuate margins, posterior two-thirds narrower and darker; lateral margins dark-brown, few purple streaks and flecks; ventral surface displays a brown purple-margined, shield-shaped mark; abdomen sparsely clothed with short blackish hairs. Corpus vulvæ chestnut-brown; moderately prominent; represents a transverse area divided by a glossy, brown, rather narrow, x-shaped septum, whose base is prolonged, horizontally, on the tumid margins of foveæ.

Several specimens, Wairongomai Gorge, A. T. U.

Linyphia nitidulum, sp. nov.

Female.—Ceph. th., long, 1·6; broad, 1. Abd., long, 2; broad, 1·8. Legs, 1, 2, 4, 3 = 5·9, 4·9, 4·2, 2·2 mm.

Cephalothorax brownish-yellow, median band and marginal zone dark-olive; former broad, bifurcates forwards from base of caput; areolate; oval, moderately compressed forwards, pars cephalica somewhat depressed, roundly truncated; lateral index equal to space from a hind-lateral eye to the hind-central furthest from it; thoracic indentation not clearly defined, caput and radial striæ well marked; contour of profile rises slightly across pars cephalica to hind row of eyes, dips somewhat abruptly backwards; depth of clypeus equals diameter of a fore-lateral eye, directed sensibly inwards.

Eyes on black spots, anterior and posterior rows recurved, latter moderately; hind row about equidistant, central pair scarcely their breadth apart, more than twice their diameter from fore-centrals, which are about their breadth from each other and side-eyes next to them; lateral eyes sensibly larger than posterior-centrals, more than one-third larger than fore-median pair; seated obliquely, their diameter and a half from one another, on tubercular eminences, fore-pair strong.

Legs and cephalothorax concolorous, femora faintly clouded, tibiæ and metatarsi annulated with an olive tint; slender; armature, few black hairs and bristle-like spines.

Palpi colour of legs, moderately strong.

Falces light amber-colour; somewhat conical, directed visibly inwards.

Maxillæ brownish-yellow; basal half longitudinally indented; fore-end rounded, tumid; inclined outwards; strong fringe of hairs. Labium chocolate-brown; oval, more than twice as broad as long, everted; about one-fourth as long as maxillæ.

Sternum brownish-yellow, margins clouded; coarse black hairs; cordate; slight eminences opposite coxæ.

Abdomen ovoid, fore-end pointed, projects over base of cephalothorax, lateral margins longitudinally corrugated; dorsal field creamy-brown, flecks of a paler hue; median mark broad, yellow margins, irregularly acutely crenate, extends from base to spinners, fore-half numerous pale flecks, few brown, somewhat angular marks on margin; posterior half maroon-colour; sides brownish, longitudinally streaked with dark olive-brown, margins yellow. Ventral surface brownish-yellow; displays a somewhat ovate, olive-coloured mark, two yellow spots. Corpus vulvæ amber-colour, speckled, glossy, somewhat oval, moderately prominent, transverse eminence, centrally produced into a longitudinal costa, at base of latter is a shallow, cuneate depression, with lake-coloured margins; fore-part concave within and prolonged above into a short, rather broad septum, which loops up a long, narrow, transverse membrane, projecting outwards above the rima genitalis; septum and membrane have glossy-brown, beaded margins.

This rather handsome specimen was captured amongst the light bush on the summit of Te Aroha. A. T. U.

Linyphia rufo-lineata, sp. nov.

Male.—Ceph. th., long, 2·8; broad, 2. Abd., long, 3·2; broad, 2. Legs, 1, 2, 4, 3 = 21, 13·1, 9, 7 mm.

Cephalothorax light yellow-brown; on posterior slope of pars cephalica is an olive-brown, lanceolate mark, which bifurcates forwards to posterior-lateral eyes; lateral margin of caput displays a longitudinal streak of similar hue; almost glabrous; rugulose; oval; moderately compressed forwards; caput moderately convex, lateral index nearly equals breadth at posterior row of eyes; median indentation on pars thoracica longitudinal, deep; caput and radial striæ well-defined; profile - contour represents a moderate double arch; clypeus vertical, height equal to more than diameter of a fore-central eye.

Eyes large, of almost equal size; posterior row procurved, centrals visibly the largest of eight, placed on black oval spots, three-fourths their diameter apart, separated by an interval equal to one-third their breadth from side-eyes next to them; anterior row recurved, median pair seated on a moderate black eminence, three-fourths their diameter from each other,

their breadth and a quarter from hind-centrals; separated by a space equal to one-fourth their diameter from side-eyes; laterals seated obliquely, close together, on separate, black, tubercular eminences.

Legs and cephalothorax concolorous; red-chestnut annuli on all joints; light hairs; long, slender spines on femoral, genual, tibial, and metatarsal joints.

Palpi colour of legs; long; humeral joint rather exceeds cubital and radial in length; cubital joint about one-fourth shorter than radial, fore-third angular, furnished with a long bristle; fore-third of radial joint sharply constricted, margin tumid, brownish; projects two long, moderately - strong bristles; clava large; projecting from beneath the lip-like margin of the radial joint is a large yellow-brown, hairy process, terminal half compressed, somewhat quadrilateral, margin blackish; above latter process a long, stout, tapering, amber-coloured apophysis, furnished with short hairs, projects forwards from beneath a black-brown, acute-crenate, membranous fringe; projecting upwards and outwards from between the two latter organs is a short, stout, curved, pale amber-coloured process, concave beneath; bulbus genitalis somewhat spiral, apex membranous, broad, linear, rounded, concave, reddish-brown; projecting outwards at a right angle from base of contracted apex is a broad, acutely-pointed, reddish, membranous process; projecting from within concavity at bulbus are two stout, glossy-black apophyses; base of outer one broad, depressed in centre, fore-part compressed and rounded; lamina bulbi beneath bulb, apex pointed; moderately hairy.

Falces light mahogany-brown; transversely rugose; vertical; fore-third remarkably concave on outer side; equal in length to humeral joint of palpus.

Maxillæ broadest and slightly rounded at extremity; moderately inclined towards each other; brownish-yellow, base suffused with brown. Labium somewhat oval, short, everted; base chocolate-brown, margin yellowish.

Sternum brownish; somewhat cordate; eminences opposite coxæ.

Abdomen oviform, indentation above pedicel; yellowish-olive, numerous yellowish flecks; folium ovate, base dark-olive; a pale ⊥-shaped mark extends backwards from cleft; nearly in centre of abdomen are two closely-connected, somewhat oval, creamy-white transverse marks; margins red, less pronounced on posterior side, with an outer border of dark olive-brown; prolonged margins terminate with white spots; between oval marks and basal ⊥-shaped mark are two whitish sinuating lines; on posterior half of dorsal line is a not-well-defined, yellow-flecked, tapering streak, bifurcating forwards

to oval marks; between latter marks and spinners are a series of three transverse, oblique, more or less pronounced, dark bars, fore-pair terminate with a white spot. Ventral surface yellowish; shield brown.

Female.—Ceph. th., long, 2·8; broad, 2. Abd., long, 4; broad, 3·2. Legs, 1, 2, 4, 3=14, 10, 8, 6 mm.

Cephalothorax brownish-yellow; dorsal mark olive-brown; somewhat fan-shaped on base of pars cephalica, compressed across pars thoracica; rugulose; almost glabrous; oval, moderately compressed forwards, lateral index exceeds breadth of eye-area; normal grooves fairly marked, fovea deep, somewhat circular; profile-line represents a moderate double arch; clypeus in height rather exceeds diameter and a half of a fore-central eye.

Posterior row of eyes procurved, sensibly exceed fore-row in size; centrals on black, oval spots, separated by an interval scarcely equal to their diameter, half that space from laterals next to them, their breadth and a half from fore-centrals; anterior row recurved; median pair seated on slight prominences, interspace rather exceeds their breadth, separated by scarcely their diameter from side-eyes; laterals seated obliquely, one-fourth their breadth apart, on dark, tubercular eminences.

Legs brownish-yellow, more or less defined brown annulations; slender; yellowish hairs, spine armature similar to males; superior tarsal claws—1st pair, slightly curved, 14 close teeth, increasing a little in length; inferior claw long, 2 teeth.

Palpi resemble legs in colour and armature; length 4mm. Palpal claw moderately curved, long, 7 teeth.

Falces yellowish, glossy; vertical, conical, tumid and projecting forwards at base.

Maxillæ rather longer than broad, apex wide, slightly rounded; yellowish. Labium less than one-half length of maxillæ, somewhat oval, broader than long, everted; olive-brown.

Sternum cordate; eminences opposite coxæ; yellow-brown, margin brownish.

Abdomen oviform, projects moderately over base of cephalothorax; light stone-colour; folium sinuate, olive-brown, stone-coloured flecks; on fore-third are a series of undulating angular marks—apices directed forwards, of a light stone-colour, except the largest and posterior one, which has a creamy-white hue, anterior margin reddish-pink; from the latter mark a narrow subulate light stone-coloured mark extends half-way to spinners; on dorsal line, intersecting the pattern, is an olive-brown streak, which takes a hastate form on the creamy angular bar; a series of brownish oblique broad

streaks, interrupted by median pattern, extend length of folium; lateral margin yellowish-olive, white next to folium, flecks yellowish; on ventral surface is a semi-oval olive-brown mark, margined with light flecks; spinners short; light mahogany-brown. Vulva amber-colour, one - third broader than long, transversely rugose, projects over rima genitalis; displays two circular, moderately deep, brownish foveæ, divided by a slightly-elevated septum, whose breadth perceptibly exceeds their diameter, and nearly equals width of outer margin; facing septum is a somewhat concave depression, equalling it in breadth; margins of corpus vulvæ terminate, on either side of concavity, in slight, somewhat conical, brown eminences.

Several examples, summit of Te Aroha, A. T. U.

Linyphia nemoralis, sp. nov.

Female.—Ceph. th., long, 1. Abd., long, 1·5. Legs, 1, 2, 4, 3 = 7·4, 4, 3, 2·5 mm.

Cephalothorax dark olive-brown, suffused with black-brown; rugose; ovate lateral marginal compression at pars cephalica very slight; caput convex, viewed from front broad ovate; indentation below eyes; thoracic fovea longitudinal, normal grooves slight; profile-contour nearly semicircular, crown of arch at limit of caput; clypeus convex, projects moderately forwards, height equals about two-thirds depth of ocular area.

Eyes of tolerable and nearly equal size; posterior row procurved, median-pair three-fourths their diameter from each other, separated by scarcely twice that interval from side-eyes; anterior row recurved; centrals dark, smallest of eight, seated on a prominence, their radius apart, further from laterals of same row than they are from posterior median pair; form a trapezoid with hind-centrals, longer than broad; lateral eyes have the pearl-grey lustre of posterior-centrals, placed obliquely on dark, moderately prominent eminences, contiguous.

Legs brownish-yellow, rather faint-brown annulations, most pronounced on 3–4; in some examples, except base of femora, 1–2 have a reddish tinge, with little or no trace of annuli; slender; fine hairs, few bristle-like spines on genual and tibial joints.

Palpi straw-colour, except digital joint which has a brownish hue; latter article rather longer than humeral, more than twice length of pars radialis; no claw; black hairs.

Falces brownish-yellow, basal half suffused with reddish-brown; stout, length exceeds digital joint of palpus by one-fourth, project forwards at base, directed outwards, superior margin somewhat concave at extremity; outer row of teeth strong, two central longest; fangs long.

Maxillæ yellowish, basal half suffused with chocolate-brown;

linear-oval, curve over labium, which is somewhat oval, rather broader than long, everted, more than half length of maxillæ; chocolate-brown, apex pale.

Sternum dark chocolate-brown; covered with small papillæ; cordate, nearly as broad as long.

Abdomen oviform, profile-line represents a semicircle, rising abruptly from base of cephalothorax; stone-colour; folium terminates a little above spinners, its dark-brown, coarse, irregular, somewhat acute-crenate margins enclose a stone-coloured leaf-like space, which has in some examples two angular brown bars on posterior half, apices directed forwards; fore-part of pale area and margins of folium widen out on base; ventral surface brown, margin dark. Corpus vulvæ moderately tumid, inferior (anterior) margin prolonged into a short, broad scape, fore-end circular, concave on upper side; superior margin curves inwards, forming a short septum, beneath the scapus vulvæ, which intersects two ovate foveæ; beneath the superior tumid margin is a narrow, transverse, lip-like projection.

Male.—Ceph. th., long, 1. Abd., long, 1. Legs, 1, 2, 4, 3 = 8, 5, 3·5, 3 mm.

Cephalothorax mahogany-brown; rugose; oval, lateral marginal constrictions at caput slight, contour of profile resembles female's; height of clypeus rather less than one-half depth of facial space.

Eyes, posterior row procurved, central pair their radius apart, rather more than their diameter from laterals; anterior row recurved, median pair placed on a dark, moderate prominence, separated by an interval equal to one-third of an eye's diameter, scarcely their breadth and a half from posterior-centrals, visibly more than their diameter from side-eyes of same row; laterals seated obliquely on moderate tubercular eminences, nearly contiguous.

Legs reddish-brown, except basal half of femora and coxæ, which have a dull straw-colour; 3&nd