Art. LIV.—On some Additions to the New Zealand Flora.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 28, 1895, Page 534

Art. LIV.—On some Additions to the New Zealand Flora. By T. F. Cheeseman, F.L.S., F.Z.S., Curator of the Auckland Museum. [Read before the Auckland Institute, 7th October, 1895.] Colobanthus squarrosus, n. sp. Small, densely tufted, much branched, forming rounded cushions 3in.-4in. in diameter and 2in. high, occasionally more laxly branched and open. Leaves ⅛in.-⅕in. long, rigid or chaffy, spreading, base broad and sheathing, upper part subulate, gradually narrowed to an acute or shortly acicular tip, deeply channelled above, rounded below. Flowers usually terminating the branches, ⅛in. in diameter, peduncles slightly exceeding the upper leaves. Sepals 5, broadly ovate, acute, margins thin and almost translucent. Stamens 5, much longer than the sepals; hypogynous disc reduced to a mere line. Ovary globose, styles 5. Mature capsules rather shorter than the calyx. Hab. Mount Owen, Nelson, on limestone rocks; alt., 4,000ft. This differs in a marked degree from C. acicularis, Hook. f., and C. benthamianus, Fenzl. (C. subulatus, Hook. f.), in the shape of the leaves and sepals. The leaves have not the long acicular points of the first species, and the sepals are very different in shape from those of either, being broadly ovate and acute. Epilobium rostratum, n. sp. A small rigid wiry species, 2in.-5in. high, grey with short fine pubescence. Root hard and woody. Stems few or many, erect, arcuate at the base or spreading, simple or branched, rigid terete, leafy, hoary with a uniform pubescence of short white hairs. Leaves small, rigid, coriaceous, ⅛in.-⅓in.long, 1/12in.-⅛in. wide, narrow-oblong, obtuse, or more usually terminating in a cartilaginous mucro, lower and intermediate opposite, uppermost often alternate, sessile or very shortly petiolate, margins with 2–3 large and coarse teeth, surfaces wrinkled and corrugated when dry, midrib prominent in the lower two-thirds of the leaf, secondary veins not conspicuous. Flowers very small, crowded in the axils of the upper leaves, 1/10in.-⅛in. long, erect; petals hardly longer than the pubescent calyx lobes. Capsules large, usually about ½in. long, crowded at the ends of the branches, sessile or on very short pedicels,

curved, narrowed upwards into a beak, hoary-pubescent. Seeds obovoid, testa minutely papillose. Hab. Mountain districts in Canterbury and Otago; apparently not uncommon. Upper Waimakariri, and shingly beds of streams near Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki, T. F. C.; near Naseby, Otago, D. Petrie ! A curious and distinct little species, whose nearest allies are E. melanocaulon, Hook. f., and E. erubescens, Hauss-knecht. From these it is distinguished by its smaller size, different habit, more coarsely toothed leaves, by the conspicuous uniform pubescence of the stem and branches, and especially by the short, curved, sessile capsules, which are narrowed at the tip so as to appear rostrate, thus presenting a very different appearance from those of any other New Zealand species. Epilobium vernicosum, n. sp. Rootstock stout, perennial, covered with the remains of the old branches and leaves. Branches numerous, stout, somewhat rigid, decumbent or almost prostrate at the base, erect at the tips, 4in.-6in. high, glabrous with the exception of two lines of pubescence from the bases of the leaves, terete, reddish or green. Leaves usually reddish, opposite except towards the tips of the branches where they are alternate, crowded, very glossy when fresh, coriaceous, usually oblong but varying from linear- or lanceolate-oblong to elliptical or ovate, ¼in.-¾in. long, narrowed into very short petioles or almost sessile, obtuse or subacute, lower faintly toothed or nearly entire, upper sinuate-toothed, midrib evident. Flowers very large, ½in.-⅔in. long, pale-rose, crowded in the axils of the upper leaves, erect. Calyx lobes linear-lanceolate, acute, much shorter than the broad bilobed petals. Style slender, stigma long, clavate. Immature capsules quite glabrous, nearly sessile. Hab. Mountains of Nelson. Abundant on the Mount Arthur plateau, 3,000ft.-4,000ft. alt., and ascending to over 5,000ft. on Mount Arthur and Mount Peel. The shining leaves and large rose-coloured flowers, which are produced in great abundance, make this a very charming plant. The flowers are quite as large as those of E. chionanthum, Hausskn., and E. gunnianum, Hausskn. Its nearest relative appears to be E. brevipes, Hook. f., from which it differs in not being so robust or so woody at the base, in the smaller broader leaves on much shorter petioles, and particularly in the much larger flowers. Excellent figures of E. brevipes are given in Barbey's Illustrations of Epilobium (t. 19) and in Haussknecht's elaborate monograph of the genus (t. 21, f. 89). Both these plates, which are based on

the type-specimens preserved at Kew, show the flowers to be less than half the size of those of E. vernicosum, with the lobes of the calyx quite as long as the petals. In E. vernicosum the petals exceed the calyx by at least a third of their length. Senecio glaucophylla, n. sp. Smooth and glaucous, perfectly glabrous, 1ft:—3ft. high. Rootstock stout, woody, perennial. Branches very numerous, closely packed, forming a dense mass of glaucous foliage, usually bare at the very base or furnished with minute scale-like leaves only, strongly grooved and striate, simple or sparingly branched, very leafy above. Leaves 2in.-4in. long, ½in.-1in. wide, oblanceolate, oblong-obovate or obovate-spathu-late, obtuse or subacute, irregularly sinuate-dentate or serrate, especially in the upper half of the leaf, gradually narrowed into broad flat petioles, not sheathing nor dilated at the base, very glaucous, texture rather thin, veins conspicuous, reticulate, margins somewhat thickened. Upper stem-leaves narrower, lanceolate or linear - lanceolate, sharply serrate, gradually passing into the bracts, which are narrow, linear, and entire. Flower - heads not very large, several in a loose terminal corymb. Involucre broadly campanulate, scales linear, acuminate, glabrous with the exception of a tuft of woolly hairs at the tip, 2-ribbed. Florets of the ray about 15, in one series; disc-florets numerous. Ripe achenes not seen. Hab. Mount Arthur, Nelson, on limestone rocks; alt., 4,000ft. A very curious plant, its dense habit of growth and glaucous leaves giving it a very different appearance from any of its allies. The stems seem to die down to the root in winter, a fresh crop appearing in the following spring. My specimens are somewhat immature, and the above description may consequently require modification when more perfect examples have been obtained. Senecio adamsii, Cheeseman. (S. pachyphyllus, Cheeseman, Trans. N.Z. Inst., xvi., 410). I find that the name of pachyphyllus is preoccupied by a Chilian plant (Remy in C. Gay, Fl. Chili, iv., 147). I therefore propose the name of S. adamsii, in honour of my friend Mr. James Adams, B.A., who was my companion when the plant was originally discovered. Gentiana filipes, n. sp. Small, annual, perfectly glabrous, lin.-3in. high. Stems simple or branched, erect, very slender, sparingly leafy. Leaves almost all cauline, few, small, oblong- or obovate-spathulate, lower narrowed into short petioles, upper sessile,

⅙in.-⅓in. long. Flowers solitary, terminating the branches, large for the size of the plant, ⅓in. in diameter, white. Calyx lobes broadly ovate, acute. Corolla divided rather more than one-third way down, lobes subacute. Hab. Mount Arthur, Nelson; alt., 4,000ft. A curious and pretty little plant, differing from the forms of G. montana, Forst., known to me in the calyx lobes, which are broadly ovate, while in G. montana they are linear or linear-subulate.