[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 4th July, 1900.]

Owing to the kindness of my father, Mr. W. Laing, who has sent me a large number of dried specimens, I have been enabled to examine the seaweeds of this interesting little island, and the list appended to this paper probably includes nearly all the. more conspicuous forms to be found there. Hitherto the Algæ of the island have not been examined, although the flowering-plants are fairly well known. In the “Phycologia Australica” (Harv.) several species, picked up apparently by casual collectors, are mentioned as occurring in Norfolk Island. All of these with one exception I have found in my collection.

As the island is surrounded by high cliffs, and there are few rock-pools, it does not afford any good collecting-grounds, and the number of species occurring there seems to be small, and of these nearly all are found on the northern coast of Australia. Though the flowering-plants show a distinct New Zealand connection, no trace of this appears among the seaweeds. In the following list there appear only two species which are apparently endemic. This is the more remarkable as it is stated that about a quarter of the flowering-plants are endemic.^* In a word, the’ seaweeds of Norfolk Island are completely Australian in their affinities, and show no definite relationship to New Zealand or the South Sea Islands.

I have to thank Major Reinbold for his kind assistance in the identification of the majority of the species. I have still one or two which I have not yet been able to determine.

Species marked with an asterisk have been previously recorded from Norfolk Island.