Art. XXXVIII.—Preliminary .Notes on Mr. H. H. Travers' Recent Collections of Plants from the Chatham Islands.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 5, 1872, Unnumbered Page

Art. XXXVIII.—Preliminary .Notes on Mr. H. H. Travers' Recent Collections of Plants from the Chatham Islands. By Baron Ferd. von. Mueller C.M.G., M.D., F.R.S., Hon. Mem. N.Z.I. [Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 20th July, 1872.] During the last spring and summer the Chatham Islands were revisited by Mr. H. H. Travers, with the view of exploring still further these islands for zoological and phytological purposes. The plants collected have also on this occasion been submitted to me for examination. But as the careful elaboration of all the species—many of variable form—will require some time, I have thought it advisable to offer meanwhile a few preliminary notes on these new collections. The latter comprise the Dicotyledoneœ, Monocotyledoneœ, and Ferns brought this time by Mr. Travers, and they increase the 67 genera and 87 species obtained in 1864 to 123 genera and 183 species, 56 genera and 96 species being added. Accordingly the Dicotyledoneœ known to belong to these isles, comprise now 72 genera and 94 species; the Monocotyledoneœ 34 genera and 52 species; and the Filices and closely allied plants, 17 genera and 37 species. A few of the cotyledonous plants are evidently introduced; yet, after deducting these, there still remain a comparatively large number of indigenous species for so small an area, particularly if it is considered that no high mountains exist in this group as in Lord Howe Island. The plants now brought by Mr. Travers still further prove the vegetation of the Chatham Islands to be almost identical with that of New Zealand; for even the apparently few endemic plants are almost all closely allied to New Zealand species. The total absence of Myrtaceœ and Pittosporeœ seems remarkable. The Cordylines, so conspicuous in the vegetation of New Zealand, are also absent; and many common plants of the latter and also of other countries, for instance Adiantum œthiopicum, have not yet been found. A few additions to the phanerogamic flora may still be expected among insignificant water-weeds, such as Lemna, or among the oceanic Monocotyledoneœ, such as Zostera, Cymodocea, and Halophila, otherwise Mr. Travers' search seems to have been almost exhaustive. The Mosses, Lichenastra, Lichens, Fungi, and Algæ, have been more extensively collected only during Mr. Travers' second

stay on the islands; none of these have I yet seen, as they were not arranged for distribution. But the Algæ of Mr. Travers' first collection have been elaborated with masterly knowledge by Professor J. G. Agardh of Lund (in “Ofrirsigt af Kongl. Vetenskaps Akademiens Förhandlingar,” Stockholm, 1870), and from manuscript notes of Professor Agardh a list of these Algæ appeared also in the third volume of the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, p.p. 213–215. The cotyledonous plants and ferns, now kindly placed at my disposal for examination, as supplementary to those enumerated in my “Sketch of the Vegetation of the Chatham Islands,” comprise the following genera new to the group:—Ranunculus, Cardamine, Nasturtium, Lepidium, Viola, Drosera, Stellaria, Dodonæa, Discaria, Acæna, Callitriche, Tillæa, Haloragis, Myriophyllum, Daucus, Crantzia, Hydrocotyle, Oreomyrrhis, Apium, Brachycome, Craspedia, Erechtites, Helichrysum, Gnaphalium, Hypochceris, Wahlenbergia, Myosotis, Dichondra, Parietaria, Rumex, Atriplex, Rhagodia, Chenopodium, Salicornia, Triglochin, Ruppia, Potamogeton, Acianthus, Corybas, Thelymitra, Microtis, Schœnodum, Scirpus, Cladium, Chætospora, Isolepis, Uncinia, Danthonia, Hierochloa, Trisetum, Dichelachne, Poa, Tmesipteris, Schizæa, Ophioglossum, Lindsæa. All these genera are represented also in the vegetation of the New Zealand islands. The species and their relations, geographically and phytologically, will become the subject of a special treatise. The following list of Mosses has been named by Dr. E. Hampe, of Blankenburg:— Sphagnum molliculum, Wilson. Funaria connivens, Hampe. Dissodon purpurascens (Splachnum purpurascens, J. Hook. & Wils.) Dissodon cuspidatus (Splachnum cuspidatum, J. Hook. & Wils.) Dicranum trichopyllum, n.s., Hampe. Campylopus introflexus, Bridel. Rhizogonium bifarium, Schimper. Hypnum aviculare, Bridel. Hypnum spininervium, Hook. Hypnum ramulosum, Mitten. Cyathophorum bulbosum, Bridel. Catharomnion ciliatum, J. Hk. & Wils. Racopilum australe, C. Mueller.