1.Descriptions of some New Species of New Zealand Plants.

By L. Cockayne, Ph.D., F.L.S.

[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 6th September, 1911.]

1. Nertera Balfouriana Cockayne sp. nov.

Herba perennis, glabra. Caulis repens, gracilis, ramosus, radicans. Folia late oblonga v. subrotundata, 2·5–3 mm. longa, 2–2·5 mm. lata, petiolata, basi rotundata v. cuneata; petiolus circ. 2·5 mm. longus, supra canaliculatus. Flores non visi. Drupa pyriformis, 7–9 mm. longa, aurantiaca.

South Island: Canterbury — Rakaia, Ashburton, and Rangitata Valleys, at altitude of about 600–800 m., R. M. Laing and L. C.; Waimakariri Valley, at about same altitude, L. C.; neighbourhood of Mount Cook, D. Petrie. Grows in Sphagnum bogs.

N. Balfouriana is at once distinguished from all the other New Zealand species by its large pyriform orange-coloured drupes, which are produced in such profusion as to quite hide the leaves. The plant forms close patches on Sphagnum cushions, the stems and leaves being frequently hidden amongst the moss. When in full fruit it is a beautiful object, and should be a rival of N. depressa Banks and Sol. as a plant for rock-gardens. The fruits are ripe during March and April.

The plant is named in honour of Professor I. Bayley Balfour, F.R.S., who, as Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, has done much to make known the horticultural capabilities of the New Zealand alpine flora.

2. Veronica Bollonsii Cockayne sp. nov.

Frutex erectus, glaberrimus, circ. 1·5 m. altus, multiramosus ramis te [ unclear: ] etibus. Folia obovato-oblonga, glabra, lucida, 2–6 cm. longa, 1–3 cm. lata. Racemi folia superantes, 10·5 cm. longi, vix densiflori, rhachibus pedicellisque brevissime pubescentibus; pedicelli 3 mm. longi. Flores palide lilacini. Calyx profunde 4-partitus, corollae tubum fere aequans, 3–3·2 mm. longus; lobi anguste lanceolati, acuti, ciliolati. Corollae tubus 3–4 mm. longus, fauce pubescens; lobi ovati, obtusi vel subacuti, 4 mm. longi. Capsula ovata, acuta 4·2 mm. longa.

North Island: Auckland—The Poor Knights Islands, L. C. Blooms in cultivation in the neighbourhood of Christchurch in April and later, but the same autumn-blooming plant may flower again in the succeeding summer.

In Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 38, p. 354, I referred, but with some measure of doubt, this plant to V. macroura Hook. f., for my material, with only fragmentary racemes many months old, was insufficient for accurate determination. Since that time, plants that I raised from cuttings have bloomed both in the garden of Mr. Lough, Linwood, and at Canterbury College, and have proved that the plant is a species quite distinct from any other in New Zealand. It is at once separated from V. macroura Hook. f. by the erect habit, glossy somewhat dark-green glabrous leaves with a subapiculate apex, much larger flowers

had to separate the two again, and, of course, could not consult Walker's types.

The species figured by Hudson (pl. ix, fig. 37) as flexata is really S. humeraria = obtusaria = obtruncata = punctilinearia. The true flexata is figured by him on pl. x, figs. 1 and 2, as humeraria.

Larentia exoriens Prout nov. sp.

♂. 26–35 mm. Face pale ochreous, strongly tinged with red. Palpus the same, reddest on the outer side. Pectinations rather long. Legs pale ochreous, spotted with fuscous, more or less red on upper side. Vertex and front of thorax sometimes tinged with red. Abdomen with paired dark dorsal dots, which are seldom distinct. Wings shaped as in aegrota Butl., pale ochreous; basal and median areas of forewing—and especially costa as far as subcostal vein—sometimes flushed with rosy rufous. Forewing sometimes with an indistinct curved rufous line near base; other lines rufous-grey, arranged nearly as in aegrota; subbasal pair oblique (almost parallel with termen), sometimes curved, sometimes rather sinuous, scarcely ever strongly bent basewards near costa as in aegrota; median series of four rather variable, the first usually crossing the black cell-spot, the third weak sometimes lost in a greyish suffusion, the fourth dentate usually projecting rather more before and behind the radials than is normal in aegrota; a pale band distally to the line, usually bisected by a very feeble grey line; subterminal area usually more or less shaded with grey, at least to the extent of some spots before a pale vague lunulate subterminal line; termen marked with paired black dots; fringe slightly dark-marked, generally more feebly than in aegrota. Hindwing with or without black cell-spot, no other distinct markings, faint traces of those on the underside; termen and fringe as in forewing. Underside pale ocherous, in fresh specimens usually strongly flushed with rufous, especially costal terminal areas of forewing and whole of hindwing; basal area, especially of forewing, more greyish, both wings with dark post-median line usually pretty well defined, sometimes dark-shaded proximally, usually pale-margined distally; in well-marked individuals with a distinct pale subterminal line; hindwings also sometimes with one or two dark lines in basal area; cell-spots present; termen as above.

Type (G. Howes, 15th March, 1910) in coll. L. B. Prout.

Glenorchy (March, 1910)—G. B. Longstaff; G. Howes. Nevis (24th March, 1911), Kinloch (20th March, 1911)—G. Howes.

By the kindness of Dr. Longstaff and Mr. Howes I am enabled to describe this species from nine males, including two or three in excellent condition and others little inferior. When worn or faded it is exceedingly similar to L. aegrota, but, apart from the points indicated above, it may be known by the absence of strong fuscous clouding on the underside, and by two structural characters: the antennal pectinations are appreciably longer (one-sixth or one-seventh as long again), and the posterior part of the cell of hindwing is considerably less produced, vein 5 arising near the cell-spot.

Note.—I use the name Larentia Frietschke for Xanthorhoe. Section 2 of Turner (Proc. Roy. Soc. Victoria, xvi, new series, p. 274): “hindwings with vein 5 from below centre of discocellular, which is angled.”

Here belong of New Zealand species—L. semifissata Walk., chlamydota Meyr., beata Butl., semisignata Walk., farinata Warr., and doubtless a few that I cannot at the present moment compare.