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[Read before the Auckland Institute, 22nd November, 1910.]
Plate II.
1. Olearia Crosby-Smithiana sp. nov.
Frutex humilis, ramosa, compacta, 4–6 dcm. alta. Folia anguste linearia, 4–9 cm. longa, 2 mm. lata, marginibus forte revolutis; costa media inferiore valde prominente.
Paniculae summos ramulos versus dispositae; capitula parva, pauca, flores paucos gerentia.
A low compact shrub, 4–6 dcm. high, with numerous short erect or suberect branches, marked by the scars of fallen leaves; the higher part of the branches alone leafy.
Leaves crowded, alternate, coriaceous, acute, entire, veinless, narrow-linear, 4–9 cm. long, 2 mm. broad, shortly petioled; margins strongly revolute; upper surface with a deep longitudinal groove, more or less lacunose; under-surface marked by a stout midrib that is fringed by a delicate line of whitish tomentum; the petiole ending below in a broad thickened collosity, above which the leaves become detached.
Panicles towards the tops of the branchlets, and springing from a cluster of short acute squamiform leaves having white tomentose margins. Peduncles filiform, ± 2 cm. long, divided into 2–3 branches that are again subdivided.
Heads few, small, of few florets; involucre turbinate; scales in 2–3 series, dark brown, the lower ovate-lanceolate, the upper linear, glabrous or slightly pubescent at the tips.
Achenes very narrow, glabrous, 1 mm. long; pappus very slender, spreading, longer than the achenes.
Hab.—The Hump (3,500 ft.), south of Lake Hauroko.
I am indebted to Mr. J. Crosby Smith, F.L.S., of Invercargill, for a number of fruiting specimens of this most distinct species. The narrow-linear strongly ribbed leaves and the small slender inflorescence are very different from those of any other native species. Its nearest ally is O. lacunosa Hook. f. It was collected long ago at Dusky Sound by Mr. Reischek, who gave Mr. T. F. Cheeseman some pieces not in flower or fruit, and I have seen flowerless specimens from the neighbourhood of Puysegur Light-house.
2. Aciphylla pinnatifida sp. nov.
Caulis 15–20 cm. altus, gracilis, sulcatus. Folia 5–8 cm. longa, trifoliolata, usque ad summam vaginam divisa; segmenta linearia, pinnatisecta; pinnis linearibus, brevibus, integris, subremotis; vaginae haud in spinas laterales productae.
Stem 15–20 cm. high, slender, grooved.
Leaves numerous, radical, 5–8 cm. long, flaccid, trifoliolate, divided to the top of the sheath; segments linear, pinnatisect, the middle one
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longer; pinnae linear, short, rather remote, entire, acuminate, with thickened margins and subrigid pungent tips. Sheaths short, thin, broadly obcuneate, not produced into lateral spines.
Inflorescence shorter than the culum, subflexuous, broadly ovate; bracts leaflike, with broad compressed sheaths ± 2 cm. long; the segments of the lower bracts more or less pinnatisect, those of the upper entire or slightly cut. Primary peduncles longer than the sheaths, the secondary short.
Fruits ± 3 mm. long, elliptic, 3–5 winged.
Hab.—End Peak, Lake Hauroko.
I have seen only three specimens of this very distinct plant, collected by Mr. J. Crosby Smith, F.L.S. One bears no fruit, and may be a staminate plant; the others are pistillate, but few ripe carpels are left on them.
3. Gentiana flaccida sp. nov.
Herba perennis, gracilis, flaccida, indivisa, erecta, ± 10 cm. alta.
Folia radicalia numerosa, 2–3 cm. longa, tenuia, obovato - spatulata, gradatim in petiolos latiores per-flaccidos lamina duplo longiores attenuata. Folia caulina radicalibus similia, petiolis brevioribus, superiora acuta in paribus oppositis disposita.
Flos terminalis, solitarius, grandis, ad 2 cm. longus.
A slender flaccid apparently perennial herb, not branched, erect, ± 10 cm. high; root rather stout.
Radical leaves numerous, 2–3 cm. long, thin, obovate-spathulate, gradually narrowed into rather broad flaccid petioles twice as long as the blades. Cauline leaves similar to the radical, but with shorter petioles or almost sessile; the upper in opposite pairs, the topmost pair acute.
Flower solitary, terminal, ± 2 cm. long. Calyx green, divided for three-quarters its length into thin linear acute lobes with an evident midrib.
Stamens as long as the calyx; pistil rather longer.
Fruit not seen.
Hab.—End Peak, Lake Hauroko.
I have seen only a single specimen of this plant, but it is so clearly distinct from any of its native congeners that I feel little hesitation in describing it. It is, of course, uncertain if the specimen I have seen represents the typical form of the plant. Its nearest ally is G. lineata T. Kirk, a plant that was first collected by myself on Stewart Island in 1877. The present species was collected by Mr. J. Crosby Smith, F.L.S.
4. Euphrasia australis sp. nov.
Herba tenuis, subrigida, parce foliosa, ad 8 cm. alta, sparse pubescens, a basi ramosa; rami laterales parce subdivisi. Folia in paribus oppositis remotis disposita, suborbicularia, crassiuscula, basi subito contracta.
Flores majusculi, axillares, pedunculati, plerumque in paribus oppositis dispositi, albidi; pedunculi foliis subduplo longiores, maturi ad 1 ½ cm. attinentes.
Capsula calyce persistente brevior, late obovato-cuneata.
A slender, rather rigid, sparingly leafy herb, 8 cm. high or less, sparsely pubescent with short white hairs, branched from the base, branches sparingly subdivided.
Leaves in distant opposite pairs, suborbicular, suddenly contracted into a very short petiole, rather coriaceous, apparently glabrous, recurved
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at the margin, ± 6 mm. long, either side showing two broadly rounded teeth separated by a wide shallow sinus.
Flowers rather large, axillary, peduncled, generally arranged in opposite pairs; peduncles nearly twice as long as the leaves, at maturity 1 ½ cm. long, curved.
Calyx narrow-campanulate, pubescent, divided for one-third its length into four short obtuse subcostate lobes; margins recurved. Corolla whitish, funnel-shaped, expanded at the throat; upper lip 2-lobed, lobes short, obtuse, entire: lower strongly reflexed and cut into three short obtuse entire lobes, the middle one narrower. Anthers cohering, glabrous or nearly so.
Capsule shorter than the persistent calyx, broadly obovate-cuneate, sparingly pubescent at the top.
Hab.—end Peak, Lake Hauroko.
I have not seen good specimens of this plant, which was collected by Mr. J. Crosby Smith, F.L.S., during an adventurous and laborious visit to Lake Hauroko and its neighbourhood. Owing to difficulties of travel, they are so mouldy and indifferently dried that I cannot be sure of the glabrous condition of the leaves or of the exact colour of the corolla. The species finds its nearest ally in E. Cockayniana Petrie, from which it differs in the suborbicular differently cut leaves, the more diffuse branching, and the elongated curved peduncles.
5. Euphrasia umbellata sp. nov.
Herba annua, ramosa, gracillima, glabra. Caulis gracilis, 1½–2 cm. longus, deinde umbellato-ramosus; rami gracillimi, patentes v. ascendentes, 5–10 cm. longi, parce subdivisi.
Folia in paribus oppositis subdistantibus disposita, viridia, tenuia, trinervia, anguste cuneata, ad apicem in 5–7 breves subulatos subacutos dentes secta.
Flores solitarii, longe pedunculati; corolla per-anguste infundibuliformis, 1–1½ cm. longa, recta: stamina glabra.
A low delicate much-branched glabrous annual herb.
Main stem very slender, 1½–2 cm. long, then umbellately divided into 4–7 spreading or ascending filiform branches 6–10 cm. long that are again sparingly subdivided; branches not creeping or rooting.
Leaves in rather distant opposite pairs, greenish when dry, sessile, thin, not recurved, 4–6 mm. long, 2 mm. broad, narrow-cuneate in outline, entire for two-thirds their length, the upper third cut into 5–7 narrow subacute subacute subulate lobes.
Flowers solitary in the axils of the upper leaves, not in opposite pairs, long-peduncled; peduncles capillary, 1–1½ cm. long, straight, calyx short, tumidly campanulate, cut into four short subulate teeth. Corolla 1 cm. long, very narrow funnel-shaped, straight; the lips short: anthers glabrous or nearly so.
Capsule (unripe) apparently shorter than the tube of the calyx.
Hab.—Mouth of Oreti River, Southland.
In common with the preceding species described in this paper, the present plant was collected by Mr. J. Crosby Smith, F.L.S. His zealous and fortunate collecting is revealing in the south-western region of the South Island a more distinctive and varied flora than has hitherto been supposed to occur there. The Fiord County, with its many high ranges of
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Muehlenbeckia Astoni Petrie
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hills, is especially worthy of exploration, but difficulties of travel have made it almost impracticable. Now that these difficulties are being in part removed, our knowledge of the alpine plants of the region must steadily improve, and to Mr. Crosby Smith and his fellow-workers in the South we must look for a fuller knowledge of them.
In addition to the new species enumerated above, Mr. Crosby Smith has found Celmisia Traversii Hook. f. on End Peak (Princess Range), at Lake Hauroko, a most unexpected extension of the range of that well-marked species, and in keeping with his former discovery of Stellaria Roughii Hook. f. on the Takitimu Mountains.
6. Muehlenbeckia Astoni sp. nov.
Frutex erectus, ad 15dcm. altus, caules complures lignosos, rectos, teretes, brunneos, transversim ± 8 mm. latos emittens; tertia caulis parte summa tantummodo ramosa; ramis multitoties in ramulos tenues, flexuosos, leves, brunneos, divaricantes et intricate implicatos divisus; internodiis brevibus.
Folia parva, pauca, terna v. bina in ramulis lateralibus valde decurtatis insita, magnitudine variabilia, 3–9 mm. lata, paene aeque longa, plerumque late obcordato-cuneata, tenuia, glabra, integra, apice late incisa; petiolis gracillimis, laminas fere aequantibus.
Flores minuti, subglomerati, unisexuales (ut videtur), in extremis ramulis lateralibus foliosis insiti.
Fructum haud vidi.
An erect shrub, reaching a height of 15 dcm., and consisting of a number of straight dark-brown glabrous wrinkled canelike woody shoots, ± 8 mm. across; unbranched below, at three-quarters their height branching and repeatedly subdividing into very numerous slender flexuous divaricating and interlacing branchlets with short internodes; the main middle shoot generally overtopping the lateral ones.
Leaves in twos or threes on short arrested side shoots, small, few, very variable in size but not in outline, 3–9 mm. broad and about as long, glabrous, thin, entire, broadly notched at the apex, widely obcordate-cuneate or with the base rather rounded, on very slender petioles that equal or exceed the blades; veins very obscure.
Flowers minute, apparently unisexual, in small fascicles at the tips of the arrested leafy lateral shoots. Peduncles short, very slender, rarely almost obsolete.
Ripe fruit not seen.
Hab.—Palliser Bay, near Orongorongo, and Wainuiomata. Collected by Mr. B. C. Aston, who informs me that the plant is of rare occurrence.
This species is a near ally of M. complexa Meissn. The stout erect woody canelike shoots, the divaricate and interlacing habit of branching, and the thin small obcordate-cuneate leaves clearly mark it off as distinct. Fresh specimens must be studied to ascertain the characters of the flowers and fruit. Owing to the entanglement of the twigs and their flexuous form it is difficult to make satisfactory dried specimens, as the leaves and flowers cannot be directly subjected to pressure, so that they are very apt to curl and fall off.