[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 3rd November, 1897.]

Plate XLI. (in part).

time it has almost entirely disappeared from that locality, and it is now very difficult to find a single specimen. It agrees very well with the generic description of Anacalypta, although the peristome is always found imperfect. The upper portion of it appears to be very membranous, and gets dissipated by the dehiscence of the operculum, leaving only short stumps composed of one or two superimposed cells.

A. stevensii (the other plant here recorded) was found growing on damp banks, Port Lyttelton hills, October, 1892, near the small gully leading to the Dry Bush. This plant considerably resembles the previous one. I have some doubt in placing this plant in the present genus, owing to the peristome being deeply bifid, although it has no medial line, but this is the only genus that it is closely associated with.

1. Anacalypta zealandiæ, sp. nov. Plate XLI., fig. 4.

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Plants monœcious, annual, growing in loose patches ⅛ in. high, green. Stem simple. Leaves small, imbricating round the stem, erecto-patent, slightly decurved from an erect base, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acute, concave. Margins entire, keeled. Nerve shortly excurrent. Upper areola small, slightly crisp when dry. Perichætial leaves similar to the upper ones, acrocarpous. Fruitstalk erect, reddish, about ⅛ in. long. Capsule small, ovate, reddish. Peristome single, 16, short, very imperfect, consisting of one or two super-imposed cells. Operculum short, conic. Calyptra small, cucullate.

Hab. Sandy soil in the Christchurch Domain. Collected by R. B.

2. Anacalypta stevensii, sp. nov. Plate XLI., fig. 5.

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Plants monœcious, annual (?), gregarious, pale-green, about 1/32 in. high, with one or two small branches from the base. Leaves few, imbricating round the stem, erecto-patent, shortly ovate-lanceolate, acute, or acuminate, concave. Margins entire. Nerve narrow, continued to the apex, erect when dry. Perichœtial leaves nearly erect, sheathing at the base, slightly smaller than the upper ones, otherwise similar to the others, acrocarpous. Fruitstalk 1/16 in. long. Capsule oval. Peristome single, 16, teeth deeply bifid, divisions slender, without medial line. Operculum slightly oblique, conicorostrate, two and a half times shorter than the capsule. Calyptra small, cucullate.

Hab. Damp banks, Port Lyttelton hills; October, 1892. Collected by R. B.