Art. I.—Contributions to a Fuller Knowledge of the Flora of New Zealand: No. 5.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 46, 1913, Unnumbered Page

Art. I.—Contributions to a Fuller Knowledge of the Flora of New Zealand: No. 5. By T. F. Cheeseman, F.L.S., F.Z.S., Curator of the Auckland Museum. [Read before the Auckland Institute, 3rd December, 1913.] I. Ranunculaceae. Clematis indivisa Willd. In the Students' Flora Mr. T. Kirk constituted three varieties of this plant, describing them as follows: “Var. b, lobulata, leaflets toothed or lobulate, flowers smaller; var. c, decomposita, leaflets 2-ternate; var. d, linearis, leaflets narrow-linear, 3–7 in. long, ¼ ½ in. broad, entire or with two lateral lobes at the base.” For many years I have been convinced that these three forms are nothing more than juvenile states of C. indivisa, and I am now able to offer satisfactory proof of this. In August, 1912, Mr. H. B. Morton gave me a number of young seedlings of C. indivisa, varying in height from 4 in. to 8 in. They all had narrow-linear leaves 3 in. to 4 in. long, closely resembling the leaves of very young plants of Parsonsia, heterophylla. They were planted in richly manured soil at the foot of a tall trellis, and made very rapid growth. The simple linear leaves soon gave place to trifoliolate leaves with linear leaflets, which in their turn were followed by others in which the leaflets were broader and much cut and lobed, in a few instances being twice ternate. By August, 1913, or within twelve months, some of the stems had reached the height of 12 ft., and produced flowers abundantly. In the meantime the upper leaves had assumed the ordinary shape of the adult—that is, with ovate-oblong entire or slightly toothed leaflets. At the present time (November, 1913) almost all traces of the early leaves have been lost. At the same time, as several observers, including myself, have seen flowering specimens with lobulate leaflets, it may be taken for granted that the juvenile foliage sometimes persists for a few years.

Ranunculus Godleyanus Hook. f. Fitzgerald's Pass, Mount Cook district; P. Graham! Specimens rather smaller than some gathered in a very similar situation on Whitcombe's Pass by Sir Julius von Haast and Mr. J. D. Enys, but not otherwise different. III. Cruciferae. Lepidium tenuicaule T. Kirk. I am indebted to Mr. B. C. Aston for specimens of this collected on Kapiti Island. It is not mentioned in Dr. Cockayne's list of the plants of the island. IV. Violaceae. Hymenanthera novae-zealandiae Hemsl. Mayor Island and Karewa Island, Bay of Plenty; Dr. Thilenius! These localities, which are the most southern known, were accidentally omitted in the Manual. V. Pittosporaceae. Pittosporum virgatum T. Kirk. Taumata-mahoe Range, to the east of Ahipara, Mongonui County; H. Carse and H. B. Matthews! VIII. Elatinaceae. Elatine americana Arn. var. australiensis Benth. Muddy places near Lake Tongonge, Kaitaia; H. B. Matthews! XI. Tiliaceae. Aristotelia racemosa Hook. f. Mr. F. R. Field sends me leaves of this, obtained near the Hawai River, Opotiki, which are quite 10 in. long, including the petiole. Aristotelia fruticosa Hook. f. Kaikuri, near the Waitomo Caves; E. Phillips Turner! The most northerly station yet noted on the west coast of the North Island, but on the east coast it advances as far north as the Cape Colville Peninsula. XIII. Geraniaceae. A complete revision of this family has been prepared by the well-known botanist R. Knuth for the “Pflanzenreich,” of which it forms Heft 53. The nomenclature adopted for the New Zealand species is as under:— 1. Geranium dissectum Linn. var. glabratum Hook. f. Knuth does not actually quote any New Zealand localities for this, but as he accepts the variety as defined by Hooker I take it that the New Zealand plant is included. 2. Geranium molle Linn. 3. Geranium sessiliflorum Cav. var. glabrum Knuth. This variety includes the New Zealand and Tasmanian forms, the distinguishing characters being given as “Pedunculi petiolique retro-adpressi pilosi. Folia glabrescentia.” The type of the species, which is confined to South America. has the foliage densely clothed with adpressed hairs.

4. Geranium pilosum Forst. f. Includes Hooker's two varieties pilosum and patulum of G. dissectum. For the last-mentioned Knuth proposes the new name of “grandiflorum.” 5. Geranium microphyllum Hook. f. 6. Geranium Traversii Hook. f. 7. Pelargonium inodorum Willd. This, which answers to the P. australe var. clandestinum of Hooker and other authors, is considered by Knuth to be sufficiently distinct to be retained as a separate species. He also quotes the typical P. australe as a New Zealand plant; but as he gives the locality as. “Port Phillip,” and the collector's name as Luehmann, it is tolerably clear that a mistake has been made. Knuth also gives New Zealand for one of the habitats of the Australian Erodium cygnorum; but, so far as I am aware, it has never been seen in New Zealand, either as an indigenous or naturalized plant. XVIII. Rhamnaceae. Pomaderris elliptica Lab. Northern slope of Pirongia Mountain, Waipa Valley; B. C. Aston! The most southern locality yet recorded on the western side of the North Island. XXIII. Rosaceae. Rubus cissoides A. Cunn. var. pauperatus T. Kirk. Not uncommon on raised beaches at Cape Turakirae, near the entrance to Wellington Harbour; B. C. Aston and T.F.C. XXVI. Droseraceae. Drosera pygmaea D.C. Waimarino Plains, western base of Ruapehu; altitude, 2,500 ft.; E. Phillips Turner! Not previously recorded in New Zealand from any locality between the extreme north of the North Island and the extreme south of the South Island; but it is probably not uncommon in moist peaty situations, and is overlooked on account of its small size. XXVIII. Myrtaceae. Metrosideros Parkinsoni Buch. State Coal Reserve (Liverpool Mine), near Greymouth; P. G. Morgan! This is a marked extension of the southern range of this fine plant. XXXI. Cucurbitaoceae. Sicyos angulatus Linn. This is fast becoming scarce on the mainland, although still plentiful on many of the outlying islands. Of new records, I may mention Goat Rock, off Tiritiri Island (A. Hansen!); and the D'Urville Islands, off the eastern entrance to Auckland Harbour (T.F.G.). XXXIII. Umbelliferae. Angelica geniculata Hook. f. On rocks at Little Akaroa, Banks Peninsula; Rev. F. R. Spencer!

XXXVII. Compositae. Olearia nitida Hook. f. var. angustifolia Cheesem. Not uncommon in the vicinity of the Ngakawau River, to the north of Westport; P. G. Morgan! I have also received from Mr. Morgan a form almost intermediate between var. angustifolia and the type. collected at Seddonville, near the Mokihinui River. Olearia virgata Hook. f. Attains a height of 25 ft. in the Marikopa Valley, south of Kawhia; E. Phillips Turner! This is the most northerly locality yet recorded on the west coast of the North Island, but on the eastern side it advances as far as the Ohinemuri Gorge. Olearia Solandri Hook. f. Motuara Island, Queen Charlotte Sound; J. H. Macmahon! Celmisia rupestris Cheesem. Mount Aorere, north-west Nelson; F. R. Gibbs! A slight northwards extension of the range of this local species, which I discovered on Mount Peel, Nelson, in 1881. Gnaphalium subrigidum Col. Tinui, inland from Castle Point; J. S. Tennant! Cape Turnagain and the Puketoi Range; B. C. Aston! Makuri Gorge, west of Puketoi; E. Phillips Turner! I do not know of any previously published records for the eastern side of the Wellington Provincial District, but probably it will be found to be not uncommon in open rocky places. Senecio glaucophyllus Cheesem. I have to thank Mr. F. R. Gibbs for a fresh supply of specimens of this interesting species, obtained in the locality where it was originally discovered by myself in 1886, among limestone rocks in a ravine on the northern face of Mount Arthur, Nelson. It has not yet been seen elsewhere. XLIII. Epacridaceae. Archeria racemosa Hook. f. Plentiful on Whanakao Mountain, near Hikurangi, East Cape district; also at the head of the Keru Stream, which enters the sea near Te Kaha, descending as low as 250 ft. above sea-level; Mr. Sherwood. XLV. Myrsinaceae. Myrsine chathamica F. Muell. On one of the “mutton-bird” islands between Stewart Island and the Bluff; H. Guthrie-Smith! Dr. Cockayne quotes only the two localities of Wilson Bay and Old Neck, so far as Stewart Island is concerned. Myrsine nummularia Hook. f. Summit of Mount Hikurangi, East Cape district; altitude, 5,000 ft.; G. W. Williams! The most northern locality yet observed.

L. Gentianaceae. Sebaea ovata R. Br. Boggy places on raised beaches near Cape Turakirae, Cook Strait; B. C. Aston and T. F. C. The first record for this local plant within the Wellington Provincial District. LIV. Scrophulariaceae. Gratiola nana Benth. Sandy beaches on Lake Whangape, Middle Waikato; T. F. C. Veronica Townsoni Cheesem. Mr. A. Allison, of Wanganui, sends me cultivated specimens of this in which the lower racemes are trifid. LVIII. Verbenaceae. Vitex lucens T. Kirk. A variety with cream-coloured flowers is occasionally seen. LXXII. Loranthaceae. Korthalsella salicornioides Van Tiegh. Parasitic on Leptospermum on hills at Kuaotunu, to the south of Mercury Bay; J. W. Shannon! LXXIV. Balanophoraceae. Dactylanthus Taylori Hook. f. I am indebted to Mr. J. R. Murphy for specimens collected on the Mount Egmont Ranges. LXXV. Euphorbiaceae. Poranthera alpina Cheesem. Dr. Gruning, in his revision of the subfamilies. Porantheroideae and Ricinocarpoideae, published in “Das Pflanzenreich” (Heft 58), constitutes a separate section (Oreoporanthera) of the genus for the reception of this species, which is distinguished from all its allies by the uniformly dioecious and apetalous flowers, which are solitary in the axils of the upper leaves, and by the more or less coriaceous stipules. LXXVI. Urticaceae. Paratrophis Banksii Cheesem. Valley of the Orongorongo River, discharging near Cape Turakirae, not far from the entrance to Wellington Harbour; B. C. Aston and T. F. C. As Solander's Trophis opaca seems to have been founded solely on this species, and not on P. heterophylla, it would be more in accordance with the rules of botanical nomenclature to use his specific name. LXXIX. Orchidaceae. Bulbophyllum tuberculatum Col. I am indebted to Mr. H. B. Matthews, of Kaitaia, for an ample supply of living specimens in full flower of this beautiful little plant. He informs

me that it is usually found on the upper portions of the stem and branches of the kahikatea (Podocarpus dacrydioides), growing mixed with mosses and Hepaticae, and that it is a rare circumstance to find specimens anywhere near the ground. This may account for the small number of localities recorded up to the present time. Bulbophyllum pygmaeum Lindl. Mr. H. B. Matthews also states that in Mongonui County B. pygmaeum is found more plentifully on Knightia excelsa than on any other tree. I have also noticed its comparative abundance on Knightia in other districts. Prasophyllum rufum R. Br. Tutira, Hawke's Bay; H. Guthrie-Smith! Waimarino Plains, western side of Ruapehu; E. Phillips Turner! Corysanthes Cheesemanii Hook. f. Mr. H. B. Matthews sends a two-flowered specimen, collected in the vicinity of Kaitaia. LXXXII. Liliaceae. Herpolirion novae-zealandiae Hook. f. At Kaikuri, about ten miles to the west of the Waitomo Caves, at an altitude of about 1,000 ft.; E. Phillips Turner! This is the first record to the north of Lake Taupo and the central volcanic plateau. XCI. Cyperacae. Schoenus apogon Roem. & Schultes. Near Cape Maria van Diemen, and on the slopes above Tapotopoto Bay, North Cape Peninsula; H. Corse! Not previously known from the north of Mongonui Harbour. Cladium Huttoni T. Kirk. Tauroa, near Ahipara, and also at Puheke, near Lake Ohia, both localities in Mongonui County; H. Carse! Oreobolus pumilio R. Br. var. pectinatus C. B. Clarke Summit of Mount Hikurangi, East Cape district; altitude, 5,000 ft.; Gerard Williams! Uncinia rubra Boott. Kaikuri, near the Waitomo Caves; altitude, 1,000 ft.; E. Phillips Turner! Considerably to the north of the Taupo Plains, which was believed to be its northern limit. XCII. Gramineae. Paspalum Digitaria Poir. Of late years this has increased enormously in the Lower Waikato, and in many places fringes the river and its tributaries for miles together. In dry seasons, when it can be easily reached by cattle, it is of considerable service, and is looked upon by the settlers as a valuable grass.

Festuca multinodis Petrie. Rocky places on the raised beaches eastwards of Cape Turakirae, Cook Strait; B. C. Aston and T. F. C. Asperella gracilis T. Kirk. Mr. H. B. Matthews has sent me specimens collected by him near Kaitaia. It was not previously known north of Te Pahi, Kaipara. XCIII. Filices. Doodia media R. Br. Mr. H. Carse has forwarded crested specimens of this gathered at Maungatapere, Whangarei. Asplenium Trichomanes Linn. I am indebted to Mr. E. Phillips Turner for specimens collected on limestone rocks near the Waitomo Caves. This is a slight extension of its northern range. (See Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 43, 1911, p. 185.) Nephrodium glabellum A. Cunn. Specimens of this with the tips of the primary pinnae crested have been collected at Mangatete, Mongonui County, by Mr. H. Carse. Polypodium Billardieri R. Br. Mr. Bedgood, of Kaitaia, has collected a remarkable sport in which the tips of the pinnae are expanded and lobed or almost pinnatifid. Naturalized Plants. Ranunculus flammula Linn. Vicinity of Kaitaia; H. B. Matthews! Has been previously recorded only from the Waiharakeke Stream, Piako. (See Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 39, 1907, p. 450.) Reseda lutea Linn. Slopes of Mount Eden, Auckland; F. Neve! Polygala virgata Thunb. Among fern and low tea-tree scrub at Mangatete, near Awanui; H. Carse! Edge of forest near Kaitaia; Mrs. Foley! In several places near Kihikihi, Waikato; N. M. Lethbridge! A common South African plant, now recorded for the first time from New Zealand. It is probably a garden escape, although I cannot learn that the species has been in cultivation in any of the localities quoted above. Claytonia perfoliata Doun. Karori, Wellington; J. S. Tennant! This is the first record for the North Island. Originally introduced into Europe from North America about the beginning of the nineteenth century, it has now become naturalized in many countries. Tribulus terrestris Linn. I am indebted to Mr. F. Hutchinson for a specimen of this, collected in pure shingle at Port Ahuriri, Hawke's Bay. So far as I am aware, it has

not been previously observed in New Zealand. It is a native of sandy shores in the south of Europe and north of Africa, but is now a common weed in many countries. Psoralea pinnata Linn. I am informed by Mr. H. Oakley that this has gone wild at Waipu, and threatens to become a serious nuisance. It is commonly cultivated in gardens, but I have not previously heard of its spreading spontaneously. Lactuca scariola Linn. Onehunga Railway-station yard; J. P. Kalaugher! Not previously recorded from New Zealand. Jasione montana Linn. Tutira Run, near the source of the Mohaka River, Hawke's Bay; H. Guthrie-Smith! This is the first recorded instance of this plant in New Zealand. Echium plantagineum Linn. Has been abundant on one farm at Kihikihi, Waikato, for more than forty years; J. B. Hayes! Has recently appeared in considerable quantity on the slopes of Mount Victoria, Devonport; J. P. Kalaugher I observed it in the vicinity of Auckland more than twenty years ago, but it seems to have died out in the original localities. Hyoscyamus niger Linn. Near Pakuranga, Auckland; R. Green! The only locality previously published for New Zealand is that of Wellington, by Mr. T. Kirk. Verbena bonariensis Linn. Near Kaitaia; H. Carse! Slopes of Mount Eden; F. Neve! Euphorbia segetalis Linn. On sand-dunes at Tauroa, near Ahipara; R. H. Matthews and H. Carse! Now recorded for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere. It is a native of southern Europe and north Africa, extending as far south as Madeira and the Canary Islands. Euphorbia cyparissias Linn. I am indebted to Mr. J. W. Murphy, of Christchurch, for specimens of this collected near Culverden, North Canterbury. As in the case of E. segetalis, it has not been previously recorded from the Southern Hemisphere. Alnus glutinosa Linn. Old trees of the alder have spontaneously appeared in not a few stations along the banks of the lower Waikato, from Huntly to within a few miles of the mouth of the river. Probably they have originated from seeds floated from Taupiri, where, I understand, it was planted by the missionaries prior to 1860. The willows which now form a continuous fringe along the banks of the river have doubtless originated from the same source. Eichhornia crassipes Schlecht. The well-known “water-hyacinth” has established itself in a lagoon at Te Aroha, according to information supplied to me by Mr. F. Neve. At

present it is in small quantity; but it should be kept under observation and not allowed to spread. It is well known that its introduction into Florida resulted in the blocking of steamer navigation in several slowrunning rivers. Hydrocleis nymphaeoides Buchen. I am indebted to Mr. Neve for numerous specimens of this handsome water-plant, which he informs me is now plentiful in several lagoons or backwaters near the Thames River, at Te Aroha, and is apparently rapidly increasing. According to inquiries kindly made for me by Mr. Neve, it was planted nearly twenty years ago by a Mr. Wood in a lagoon on his property about a mile and a half from Te Aroha. In this locality it now covers an area of more than an acre in extent, and has become a considerable nuisance, blocking up drains and water-channels. The beauty of the flowers has induced several settlers to transfer it to other localities near Te Aroha. In all of these it is rapidly increasing, and there is every probability of its spread in suitable places in the Thames Valley. It is a common plant in South America, ranging from Venezuela to Buenos Ayres, and is now widely cultivated in gardens. Polypogon fugax Nees. This has spread very rapidly in the Auckland Provincial District, and is now common in most districts in brackish-water swamps.