Art. XLII.—Descriptions of New or Remarkable Plants from the Upper Waimakariri.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 27, 1894, Page 349

Art. XLII.—Descriptions of New or Remarkable Plants from the Upper Waimakariri. By T. Kirk, F.L.S. [Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 20th February, 1895.] Ranunculaceæ. Ranunculus monroi, Hook. f. Fl. N.Z., ii., 323. Rhizome short, stout, clothed with the ragged bases of old petioles. Leaves all radical, subcoriaceous or almost fleshy, 2in.—6in. long or more, rounded reniform or nearly orbicular or ovate, nearly glabrous or hairy or silky, coarsely crenate or crenate-dentate, blade shorter than the sheathing petiole. Scape 3in.—12in. high, glabrous, simple or sparingly branched, 1–8-flowered, bracts entire or lobed. Flowers ¾ in.—1 ½in. in diameter; sepals linear – oblong obtuse, glabrous or silky; petals twice as long as the sepals, five or more, broadly rounded at the apex, and, with a deep nectarial pit; carpels forming a small rounded head, usually glabrous, keeled at the back, with a recurved filiform silky style. R. pinguis, Hook. f., in Handbook N.Z. FL., 5. R. muelleri, J. Buch., in Trans. N.Z. Inst., xix. (1886), 215, t. 16. Hab. North Island: Tararua Range; J. Buchanan. South Island: Nelson—Wairau Mountains; Tarndale; Spencer Mountains. Marlborough—Kaikoura Range. Canterbury—Mount Torlesse; Broken River, & c. 2,000ft.—6,300ft. Var. sericeus. Carpels clothed with silky hairs. Hab. Kaikoura Range. Var. dentatus. Leaves broadly ovate or ovate-lanceolate, coarsely toothed or dentate, clothed on both surfaces with strigose ferruginous pubescence. Hab. Kaikoura Range, Mount Torlesse, Broken River, & c. This species is closely allied to R. pinguis, Hook. f., with which it was united by Sir Joseph Hooker in the Handbook of the N.Z. Flora: that species is distinguished, however, by the peduncles being thickened upwards, the sepals equalling the narrow petals, and especially by the short subulate beak with three ridges at the base. There is, however, considerable resemblance between the immature carpels of both plants.

Violarieæ. Hymenanthera obovata, n.s. An erect glabrous shrub 4ft.—8ft. high, with pale bark, sparingly branched, branches ascending. Leaves in the young state obovate-cuneate, 3-lobed, membranous; mature 1in.—2in. long, coriaceous, obovate or oblong, narrowed into a slender petiole below, retuse, margins slightly recurved, quite entire. Flowers not seen. Fruits as in H. crassifolia, Hook. f., but slightly larger. Hab. South Island: Nelson—On limestone rocks, Graham river; Mount Owen; T. F. Cheeseman! On limestone rocks between Takaka and Riwaka; T. Kirk. Canterbury—On limestone rocks, Broken River basin; J. D. Enys and T. Kirk (1876): Ashburton Mountains; T. H. Potts! 2,000ft.—3,000ft. This puzzling plant appears to be closely related to H. oblongifolia, A. Cunn., of Norfolk Island, the leaves of which are said to be denticulate, and of greater length. A common state of H. crassifolia, Hook. f., approaches our plant in some respects, but the leaves are smaller and almost sessile. The leaves of the young state of our plant show that, notwithstanding its different appearance, it has, direct relationship with H. latifolia, R. Br. Baron Von Mueller's remarks on Hymenanthera, in his “Vegetation of the Chatham Islands,” may be read with advantage. Leguminosæ Carmichælia prona, n.s. A small species, with prostrate stems and branchlets closely appressed to the ground, 4in.—12in. long, rarely more. Branchlets 1/20in.—1/16in. broad, compressed on both surfaces. Leaves unifoliolate or pinnately 3–5-foliolate, silky, terminal leaflet much the longest, narrow cuneate-oblong, emarginate. Flowers in short dense 3–7-flowered racemes, rhachis silky, bracteoles ciliate; calyx campanulate; teeth short, acute, vexillum retuse, wings half as long as the keel. Pods ⅛in. long, abruptly falcate with a short upturned beak, tumid,-1-seeded; seeds reniform, turgid, brown. Replum complete. Hab. South Island: Lake Lyndon; 2,800ft.; J. D. Enys and T. Kirk. The nearest ally of our plant appears to be C. juncea, Colenso, an erect species with slender terete branches. The pod of C. prona, is practically indehiscent, as the valves remain firmly attached to the replum.

Onagrarieæ. Epilobium gracilipes, n.s. A slender, glabrous, decumbent species. Stems reddish, ascending at the tips and nodding, 3in.—5in. high. Leaves shortly petiolate, usually distant, ovate, obtuse or subacute, denticulated. Flowers 1–3 near the tips of the stems; sepals oblong, obtuse; peduncles of the mature capsule 1 ½ in.—2in. long, capsule the same, glabrous. Hab. South Island: Broken River basin; 2,000ft. to 2,500ft.; J. D. Enys and T. Kirk (1876). An elegant species, closely related to E. pedunculare, A. Cunn. The peduncles are very short until the flowers have faded, when they elongate with great rapidity, frequently exceeding the capsule. Our plant is not included in Professor Haussknecht's splendid monograph of the genus. Composites (Inuloideæ). Helichrysum pauciflorum, n.s. Densely clothed with white tomentum in all its parts. Stems 4in.–7in. high, excessively branched below, and woody. Branches nearly ½ in. thick, with closely-imbricating, slightly recurved oblong or oblong – spathulate leaves, with rather broad bases. Heads solitary, almost hidden amongst the terminal leaves. Involucral scales scarious, sparingly silky, acute, scarcely exceeding the pedicellate florets. Achenes not seen. Pappus thickened upwards. Hab. South Island: Craigieburn Mountains; L. Cockayne. A remarkable plant belonging to the section Ozothamnus, and bearing the closest external resemblance to H. grandiceps, Hook, f., from which, however, it differs essentially in the solitary head, which is almost hidden amongst the terminal leaves, and the total absence of the conspicuous woolly bracts so characteristic of that species. Ericeæ Pernettya tasmanica, Hook. f. Var. neo-zelandica. The New Zealand plant differs from the typical Tasmanian form in the rather broader leaves, narrower sepals, which are minutely pubescent at the tips, and especially in the anther cells, which carry a minute dorsal awn at the apex of each. Hab. South Island: By the Porter River, Broken River Basin; J. D. Enys! 2,000ft. Boragineæ. Exarrhena colensoi, n.s. A prostrate plant, usually white, with appressed hairs. Radical leaves ¾in.—1in. long, forming a central rosette, narrow-

lanceolate, acute, narrowed below into a broad flat petïole. Floriferous branches 1in.—2in. long; leaves smaller, ⅜in.—¾in. long, with slender petioles. Flowers solitary in the axils of the upper leaves; pedicels short. Calyx segments narrow linear-lanceolate, shorter than the tube, acuminate; corollatube very long and narrow, limb broadly expanded; anthers very large, sessile or nearly so, inserted at the thickened mouth of the tube; nuts dark, polished. Hab. North Island: Crags at Titiokura: Colenso, in Herb. Kew.; Handbook N.Z. Fl., 196. On limestone rocks, Broken River (1876); J. D. Enys and T. Kirk. A remarkable plant, which has hitherto been confused with the Nelson E. saxosa, Hook. f., which is distinguished from our plant by its erect habit, obovate-spathulate erect leaves, slender petioles, and especially by its pendulous anthers. The anthers of E. colensoi are inserted on a thickened ring at the mouth of the tube, and therefore, as pointed out by Sir Joseph Hooker, “truly exserted.” In this respect it is closely related to E. micrantha, Hook. f., but the habit is exactly that of Myosotis antarctica, sub-sp. traillii, of Stewart Island. It affords me great pleasure to dedicate this interesting plant to the senior naturalist of New Zealand, the Rev. W. Colenso, F.R.S., & c., on the completion of the sixtieth year of his residence in the colony. Gramineæ Agropyron enysii, n.s. Culms erect, slender, sparingly leafy, 1ft.—2ft. high. Lower leaf-sheaths pubescent or sparingly villous, especially on the margins, upper glabrous, leaves flat; ligule very short, abruptly truncate, erose. Spike 3in.—5in. long, nodding, narrow, often interrupted below; spikelets scarcely ½in. long, usually 3-flowered, glumes slightly coriaceous and scabrid, outer glumes subequal, with scarious margins, very narrow, 5-nerved, the intermediate nerves obscure, abruptly narrowed into a stiff scabrid point or awn half the length of the glume, concave; flowering-glume one-third longer, 5-nerved, abruptly narrowed into a stout point one-third to a quarter the length of the glume; palea almost equalling the flowering-glume, retuse, hairy, the nerves strongly ciliate; ovary villous, styles very short; lodicules obovate – acute, glabrous. Asprella aristata, D. Petrie, in Trans. N.Z. Inst., xxvi. (1893), 272. Hab. South Island: Slopes of Mount Torlesse and Broken River; J. D. Enys! (1877): Bealey Gorge; T. Kirk: 2,500ft. to 4,000ft., Southern Alps; N. T. Carrington! (1881). Easily distinguished from any other New Zealand species by its narrow spikes and short spikelets. It greatly resembles large states of Asprella gracile, Benth. and Hook. f., in

general appearance, but is readily recognized by the pair of outer glumes, while the lodicules are not ciliated, nor are the styles naked below. The palea is almost coriaceous in fruiting specimens. I am greatly pleased to attach the name of its original discoverer to this distinct species, if only to acknowledge the great service he has rendered to botanical science by investigating the flora of the Broken River basin and other places in the Southern Alps.