Art. XXI.—Contributions to a Fuller Knowledge of the Flora of New Zealand : No. 2.

By T. F. Cheeseman, F.L.S., F.Z.S., Curator of the Auckland Museum.

Ranunculus insignis.

Moist ravines on the slopes of Tongariro and Ruapehu, but not common; T. F. C.

Ranunculus nivicola.

Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu; altitude, 3500–6,000 ft.; abundant, usually in sheltered hollows or in localities where it is more or less shaded by scrub or rocks; T. F. C.

Although plentiful, it does not form such a prominent feature of the vegetation as on Mount Egmont, nor does it attain the same size.

Ranunculus parviflorus, var. australis.

I have received specimens of this collected on Tiritiri Island by Mr. A. Hansen. So far as I am aware, this is the only locality in which it has been found in New Zealand outside the Auckland Isthmus.

III. Cruciferæ.

Cardamine.

A most elaborate and painstaking monograph of Cardamine, by Dr. O. E. Schulz, is printed in Engler's “Botanischen Jahrbuchern” for 1903 (vol. 32, pp. 280–623). With respect to the New Zealand species, the author excludes from the genus more than half those included in it by Hooker, as C. stylosa, C. fastigiata, C. latesiliqua, and C. Enysii. In this he is probably right; for, as I have pointed out in the Manual, the fruit of these species does not at all agree with the characters of Cardamine as usually accepted. With regard to those retained in the genus, he revives Forster's name of heterophylla for the plant which Hooker referred to the northern C. hirsuta; a species which Schulz insists does not occur anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere. Hooker's variety corymbosa of C. hirsuta he restores to specific rank; the variety subcarnosa he transfers, as a variety, to the South American C. glacialis; while C. depressa of the Handbook he splits up into the two species C. depressa and C. stellata of the “Flora Antarctica.” With Kirk's C. bilobata he does not seem to be acquainted. His arrangement is therefore as follows:—

This is practically the same arrangement as that given in Kirk's “Students' Flora” and in my Manual, with the exception that Petrie's two species L. Matau and L. Kawarau are treated as subspecies of L. sisymbrioides. I feel sure that no botanist will agree with this view who is acquainted with the three plants in a living state, or who has studied large suites of specimens of them. Dr. Thellung's monograph contains much information respecting the morphology and classification of the genus, and should be consulted by all New Zealand botanists.

IV. Violaceæ.

Hymenanthera Obovata.

At the time of the publication of the Manual the flowers of this species were unknown. I am now indebted to Mr. F. G. Gibbs for specimens of both sexes obtained at the Graham River, Nelson—a locality where I collected it many years ago; and to Mr. H. J. Matthews for female flowers from a cultivated plant.

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The following is a description: Flowers axillary or on the branches below the leaves, solitary or in fascicles of 2–4, diœcious. Males: About 1/10–⅛ in. diameter; pedicels decurved, equalling the flowers or shorter, bracteolate below the middle. Sepals ovate, obtuse, free almost to the base; margins minutely fimbriate. Petals free to the base, erect for the lower two-thirds, revolute at the tips, narrow-oblong, obtuse. Anthers coherent; connective produced above the anther into a lanceolate process as long as the anther and fimbriate at the tip; scale at the back of the anther exceeding it, narrow-cuneate. Females: Smaller than the males and less numerous, and on rather shorter pedicels. Petals shorter and broader in proportion. Abortive anthers present. Ovary ovoid; style short; stigmas 2.

Hymenanthera Dentata, Var. Angustifolia.

Saddle between Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu; a few specimens noticed amongst subalpine scrub near Lake Nga Puna a Tama; altitude, 4,300 ft.; T.F.C.

The most northern locality yet recorded.

Hymenanthera Dentata, Var. Alpina.

Mr. H. J. Matthews informs me that this has a wide range in Central Otago, being found in dry arid places in most parts of the district. Flowering specimens forwarded by him show that the flowers may be either solitary, or geminate, or arranged in 2–4-flowered fascicles.

VII. Portulacaceæ.

Claytonia Australasica.

An abundant plant on the shingly slopes of Tongariro and Ruapehu, ascending to the summit of the former mountain; altitude, 6,500 ft.; T. F. C.

Hectorella Cæspitosa.

Dr. A. J. Ewart, of Melbourne, has recently contributed to the Journal of the Linnean Society (“Botany,” vol. 38, pp. 1–3) a short memoir dealing with the systematic position of Hectorella. He considers that there is nothing in the characters of the genus to connect it more definitely with the Portulacaceœ than with the subfamily Polycarpeœ of the Caryophyllaceœ. Its close general relationship to Lyallia, of Kerguelen's Island, has always been admitted; but in Lyallia the pair of leaves just below the perianth are considered to be bracts, and in Hectorella sepals. The latter conclusion, according to Dr. Ewart, is an error, both the unequal point of origin of the “sepals” and the starting-point of the vascular bundles which enter them being in favour of treating them as bracts. Dr. Ewart comes to the conclusion that Hectorella cœspitosa and Lyallia Kerguelensis are closely related plants; and that Hectorella should consequently be removed to the family Caryophyllaceœ, and placed in the neighbourhood of Lyallia and the Andine genus Pycnophyllum.

XVII. Stackhousiaceæ.

Stackhousia Minima.

Grassy places near the foot of the saddle between Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu; altitude, 3,500 ft.; T. F. C.

XXII. Leguminosæ.

Corallospartium Crassicaule.

Kurow Mountains, Otago; H. J. Matthews.

Carmichaelia Flagelliformis.

Abundant in the elevated open country surrounding Tongariro and Ruapehu, ascending to 4,000 ft.; also plentiful around Lake Taupo, and descending the valley of the Waikato almost as far as Cambridge, and the Thames Valley to Matamata; T. F. C.

XXVI. Droseraceæ.

Drosera Stenopetala.

Moist places on the slopes of Mount Hector, Tararua Range; 3,500-4,000 ft.; D. Petrie!

Drosera Arcturi.

Swampy places on the saddle between Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu, and on the margin of Lake Nga Puna a Tama; altitude, 3,500-4,500 ft.; T. F. C.

Drosera Spathulata.

With the preceding species, and in many places on the Waimarino Plains, &c.; altitude, 2,500-4,500 ft.; T. F. C.

XXVII. Haloragaceæ.

Haloragis Micrantha.

Ascends to 4,500 ft. on the saddle between Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu; T. F. C.

XXVIII. Myrtaceæ.

Leptospermum Scoparium.

I am indebted to Mr. R. J. Gilberd for specimens of a form of this with remarkably dark-red flowers—much darker, in fact, than any variety I have previously seen. It also differs from the type in the brownish-green or almost bronze-green colour of the leaves and young branchlets. Mr. Gilberd informs me that some years ago he noticed a single plant of the variety on the banks of the Whau Creek, below Henderson. Observing several young plants under the parent tree with the same peculiarly tinted foliage, he removed two or three into his garden, succeeding in establishing them. They produced flowers of the same dark-red colour, and ripened seed freely. Mr. Gilberd further informed me that he has raised a considerable number of plants from seed, and that they all “come true” to colour.

Pale-red or pink flowered varieties of L. scoparium are by no means uncommon, especially near the sea.

Metrosideros Colensoi.

At the time of the publication of the Manual the only locality recorded for this species in the North Auckland peninsula was the Bay of Islands. Mr. H. J. Matthews now informs me that it occurs both at Ruatangata and Puhipuhi, in the Whangarei district. From the same gentleman I learn that it is found in the Lower Clarence Valley, Marlborough—posibly its southern limit.

Metrosideros Tomentosa.

Some unusually fine specimens of the pohutukawa exist on Tiritiri Island. At my request Mr. A. Hansen, the resident lightkeeper, has measured the largest, and informs me that the trunk is 28 ft. 6 in. in circumference, and that the spread of the branches, from one side to the other, is 118 ft.

Myrtus pedunculata.

Vicinity of Kaitaia, Mongonui County; R. H. Matthews!

The most northern station yet recorded.

XXIX. onagraceæ.

Epilobium glabellum, var. erubescens.

Shingle-slopes on Tongariro, and at the lakes Nga Puna a Tama; altitude, 4,000-5,500 ft.; T.F.C.

XXXIII. Umbelliferæ.

Azorella Hookeri.

Shaded ravines at the foot of Tongariro and Ruapehu; altitude, 3,000-4,000 ft.; T.F.C.

Oreomyrrhis andicola.

Waimarino Plains, Rangipo Desert, &c., and slopes of Tongariro and Ruapehu; altitude, 2,500-5,000 ft.; T.F.C.

Ligusticum dissectum.

Mount Hector, Tararua Range; altitude, 4,000 ft.; D. Petrie!

Ligusticum diversifolium.

I am indebted to Mr. F. G. Gibbs for a fruiting specimen of this species. It looks wonderfully unlike specimens of L. carnosulum in the same stage, on account of the great difference in the involucral bracts, which, as stated in the original description, are very large and ternately multifid in L. carnosulum, and small, linear, and entire in L. diversifolium. The fruit is very similar in both species, but appears to be more spongy and corky in L. diversifolium.

Ligusticum aromaticum.

Slopes of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu, abundant, ascending to the summit of the first-mentioned mountain; altitude, 6,500 ft.; T.F.C.

Many years ago Mr. J. H. Kerry-Nicholls gave me specimens collected at an altitude of nearly 7,500 ft. on Ruapehu.

XXXIV. Araliaceæ.

Pseudopanax ferox.

Mr. D. L. Poppelwell informs me that this occurs in Croydon Bush, near Gore, Southland, which is the most southern locality yet recorded.

XXXVII. Rubiaceæ.

Coprosma cuneata.

Often forming a fair proportion of the subalpine scrub on the slopes of Tongariro and Ruapehu; altitude, 3,000-5,000 ft.; T.F.C.

Coprosma depressa.

Waimarino Plains, Rangipo Desert, &c., and lower portions of Tongariro and Ruapehu; altitude, 3,000-5,000 ft.; T.F.C.

Coprosma repens.

Slopes of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu, plentiful, especially on moist banks, &c. Ascends to the summit of Tongariro, altitude 6,500 ft.; and is particularly plentiful by the margin of the lakes Nga Puna a Tama, on the saddle between Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu; T.F.C.

XXXVIII. Ompositæ.

Olearia nitida.

Subalpine forest on the Waimarino Plains, and ravines at the base of Tongariro and Ruapehu; altitude, 2,500-4,000 ft.; T.F.C.

Olearia alpina.

Mr. Petrie, who has had good opportunities of studying this during his recent visit to Mount Hector, Tararua Range, informs me that it is nothing more than a narrow-leaved variety of O. lacunosa.

Olearia oleifolia.

Dart Valley, Otago; H. J. Matthews.

Olearia nummularifolia.

Slopes of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu, abundant; altitude, 3,000-5,000 ft.; T.F.C.

Celmisia hieracifolia.

Mount Hector, Tararua Range; altitude, 4,000-5,000 ft.; D. Petrie!

Not previously recorded from any part of the North Island.

Celmisia incana.

Slopes of Tongariro and Ruapehu, and low hills at their base, apparently more abundant on the eastern side than on the western; altitude, 3,200-5,000 ft.; T.F.C. Mount Hauhungatahi (between Ruapehu and Waimarino), not uncommon; Rev. F. H. Spencer!

One of the chief components, with Dracophyllum recurvum, Pimelea buxifolia, Dacrydium Bidwillii, and Phyllocladus alpinus, of the subalpine scrub on the above-mentioned mountains; altitude, 3,500 ft. and upwards.

XXXIX. Stylidiaceæ.

Phyllachne Colensoi.

Ascends to the summit of Tongariro; altitude, 6,500 ft.; T.F.C.

Oreostylidium subulatum.

Not uncommon in boggy places on the Waimarino Plains; altitude, 2,500-3,500 ft.; T.F.C.

The most northern locality yet recorded.

XLIII. Epacridaceæ.

Epacris alpina.

Summit of Mount Tauhara, north end of Lake Taupo, altitude 4,500 ft., the most northern locality known to me; also plentiful all round the base of Tongariro and Ruapehu, and ascending on the slopes to quite 5,000 ft.; T.F.C.

Archeria racemosa.

Base of Mount Hikurangi, East Cape district; altitude, 1,000 ft.; G. T. Williams!

Dracophyllum recurvum.

Slopes of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu, ascending to over 5,000 ft., and everywhere forming a large proportion of the subalpine scrub; T.F.C. Summit of Mount Kakaramea; J. Adams and T.F.C.

This and Senecio Bidwillii are the two characteristic plants of the district, and in many localities give its vegetation a very peculiar facies.

Dracophyllum Urvilleanum, var. filifolium.

Subalpine scrub on Tongariro and Ruapehu, also on the open country surrounding the mountains; altitude, 3,000-5,000 ft.; T.F.C.

XLV. Myrsinaceæ.

Myrsine nummularia.

Ravines on the western base of Ruapehu; altitude, 3,500 ft.; T.F.C.

L. Gentianaceæ.

Liparophyllum Gunnii.

Water-holes on the saddle between Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu, altitude 3,500-4,500 ft., associated with Carpha alpina, Scirpus aucklandicus, Carex echinata, Oreobolus, Drosera spathulata, and D. Arcturi; T.F.C. Boggv places on the slopes of Mount Hector, Tararua Range; D. Petrie!

These records are the first for the occurrence of the plant in the North Island. It usually forms flat sheets of considerable extent, and when spangled over with the star-like white flowers presents a by-no-means unattractive appearance.

LII. Convolvulaceæ.

Ipomæ palmata.

Two or three large patches on the cliffs of Tiritiri Island; A. Hansen!

This is an interesting and quite unexpected extension of the range of this fine plant, the southern limit of which had been believed to be at Takou Bay, just to the north of the Bay of Islands.

Dichondra repens.

D. evolvulacea, Britton in Mem. Torrey Bot. Club, v, 1894, should be quoted as a synonym of this species. Dr. Britton appears to have proposed the name on the assumption that Sibthorpia evolvulacea, Linn. f., Suppl. Plant. 288 (1781) was the earliest specific epithet. But, as has been pointed out by Mr. Hiern, this is not the case. It is true that Forster, who first published the genus in his “Characteres Generum” (1776), gives no specific name with the description of the genus printed on page 39; but the name “repens” is quoted with the explanation of the plate on page 40.

LIV. Scrophulariaceæ.

Calceolaria repens.

Lake Brunner, Westland; H. J. Matthews!

Veronica macrocarpa, var. crassifolia.

Mr. Townson has kindly forwarded flowering specimens of this plant. These look so different from all the forms of V. macrocarpa that I can entertain little doubt as to its constituting a separate species. I postpone describing it, however, until I have time to make a full comparison. It should be mentioned that its leaves are peculiar, from possessing a very distinct row of fringed pits, or “domitia,” on the under-surface

stems, putting up numerous short erect flowering-branches, often densely compacted. The flowers are nearly always pure white, but in one or two instances I noticed plants bearing pale lavender-blue flowers.

Euphrasia cuneata.

This is an abundant plant on the volcanic plateau in the centre of the North Island. Its most northerly station, so far as I am aware, is on Mount Tauhara, at the north end of Lake Taupo, from whence it stretches eastwards to the Rangitaiki River and the eastern side of the Taupo Plains. South of Taupo it is plentiful on the Waimarino Plains, Rangipo Desert, &c., and on all the mountains—Pihanga, Kakaramea, Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu—ascending to considerably over 5,000 ft.

Euphrasia zealandica.

Pukeonake Hill, to the west of Ngauruhoe; altitude, 4,000 ft.; T.F.C.

The most northern station yet recorded.

LV. Lentibulariaceæ.

Utricularia monanthos.

Near the summit of Mount Kakaramea, altitude 4,800 ft.; by the margins of water-holes on the saddle between Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu, altitude 3,500-4,500 ft.; also in several localities on the Waimarino Plains, altitude 2,500-3,500 ft.; T.F.C.

LX. Plantaginaceæ.

Plantago uniflora.

Slopes of Mount Hector, Tararua Range; D. Petrie!

Now collected for the first time since its original discovery on the Ruahine Range by Mr. Colenso more than sixty years ago.

LXVI. Piperaceæ.

Piper excelsum, var. major.

Not uncommon on Tiritiri Island; A. Hansen!

LXXI. Thymelæaceæ.

Pimelea buxifolia.

Very abundant on the slopes of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu; altitude, 3,500-5,500 ft.; T.F.C.

One of the characteristic species of the subalpine scrub. and one of the commonest.

LXXVII. Cupuliferæ.

Fagus Blairii.

Not uncommon in western Otago—Lake Manapouri, Lake Te Anau, Wakatipu basin, &c.; plentiful at a bend of the river between Lake Te Anau and Lake Manapouri, together with four other species of Fagus—F. Menziesii, F. fusca, F. Solandri, and F. cliffortioides; H. J. Matthews!

LXXIX. Orchidaceæ.

Thelymitra ixioides.

Among Leptospermum scrub at Cowes, Waiheke Island; J. H. Harvey!

Thelymitra intermedia.

Vicinity of Kaitaia; R. H. Matthews! Also a single specimen gathered near Cowes, Waiheke; J. H. Harvey!

Thelymitra decora.

This species has evidently a much more extended range than I supposed when I first described it. Waimarino Plains, and south-western base of Tongariro, growing sparingly amongst T. uniflora and T. longifolia, altitude 2,500-3,700 ft.; T.F.C. Near Taumarunui; T.F.C. Among Leptospermum scrub at Cowes, Waiheke; J. H. Harvey!

Thelymitra uniflora.

The most abundant species on the Waimarino Plains, between Central Trunk Railway and Ruapehu; altitude, 2,000-3,500 ft.

Most plentiful on boggy ground, amongst Schœnus pauciflorus, Carpha, Oreobolus, &c., but not absent from the drier portions of the plains as well.

Pterostylis barbata.

I am indebted to Mr. B. A. Morison, of Wanganui, for sending me a sketch of what is undoubtedly this species, prepared from specimens obtained by Mr. E. H. Atkinson at Day's Bay, near Wellington. This is a marked southern extension of the range of the species, which was not previously known further south than the Upper Thames Valley. Mr. J. H. Harvey forwards a 2-flowered specimen obtained on Waiheke Island.

Lyperanthus antarcticus.

Moist places on the subalpine meadows of Mount Hector, Tararua Range; altitude, 3,000-4,000 ft.; D. Petrie!

So far as I am aware, this is the first record of the occurrence of the species in the North Island.

Caladenia minor, var. exigua.

Vicinity of Cowes, Waiheke Island; J. H. Harvey!

Caladenia bifolia.

Waimarino Plains, and saddle between Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu; altitude, 2,500-4,500 ft.; T.F.C.

LXXXIII. Juncaceæ.

Luzula Colensoi.

Ascends to the summit of Tongariro; altitude, 6,500 ft.; T.F.C.

LXXXVIII. Naiadaceæ.

Potamogeton Cheesemanii.

A depauperated state of this species is found in water-holes on the saddle between Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu, ascending to a height of 4,250 ft.; T.F.C.

XCI. Cyperaceæ.

Eleocharis Cunninghamii.

Abundant by water-holes on the saddle between Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu, ascending to 4,500 ft.; T.F.C.

Scirpus aucklandicus.

Boggy places on the Waimarino Plains, and on the flanks of Tongariro and Ruapehu; altitude, 2,500-5,000 ft.; T.F.C. Swamps near the summit of Kakaramea; altitude, 4,800 ft.; T.F.C.

I have nowhere seen this plant more abundant than it is in suitable localities in the above-mentioned districts.

Scirpus americanus.

Near Marton; W. Townson!

Schœnus nitens, var. concinnus.

Margin of water-holes on the saddle between Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu, ascending to 4,500 ft.; T.F.C.

Uncinia rubra.

Various localities on the Waimarino Plains; near Lake Rotoaira; between the Rangitaiki River and Tarawera, on the Taupo-Napier Road; T.F.C.

XCII. Gramineæ.

Hierochloe Fraseri.

Waimarino Plains; summit of Mount Kakaramea: slopes of Tongariro and Ruapehu, altitude 2,500-5,000 ft.; T.F.C.