Art. XII.—Some Hitherto-unrecorded Plant-habitats (IX).

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 46, 1913, Page 60

Art. XII.—Some Hitherto-unrecorded Plant-habitats (IX). By L. Cockayne, Ph.D., F.R.S. [Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 5th November, 1913.] For the determination of the mosses recorded below I am indebted to Mr. H. N. Dixon, M.A., F.L.S. Mr. C. E. Christensen, in company with Mr. W. G. Morrison, of the State Nursery, is continuing his valuable detailed examination of the Hanmer district, and the Rev. J. E. Holloway has sent me a collection of plants from Mount Oxford. To these gentlemen I am much indebted. 1. Musci. Barbula australasiae (Hook. & Grev.) Brid. South Island: Canterbury—On soil on rock, Port Hills. L. C. Breutelia comosa Mitt. South Island: Canterbury—Growing amongst large stones in the open, neighbourhood of Tasman Glacier. Johannes Andersen! Bartramia patens Brid. South Island: Canterbury—Wet rock, Craigieburn Mountains, at 1,000 m. altitude. L. C. Bryum curvicollum Mitt. North Island: Auckland—Wet ground in the open, Ohaupo. L. C. Bryum leptothecium Tayl. South Island: Canterbury—Port Hills. Miss Suckling! Campylium relaxum (Hook. f. & Wils.). South Island: (1.) Westland—Forest floor near Jackson's, Taramakau Valley; L. C. (2.) Canterbury—Floor of Nothofagus forest, base of Craigieburn Mountains, at 700 m. altitude; L. C. Campylopus introflexus (Hedw.) Mitt. South Island: Westland—Lowland Sphagnum moor near Stafford. L.C. Dicranoloma pungens (Hook. f. & Wils.) Paris. South Island: Canterbury—Totara forest near source of River Rakaia, at 920 m. altitude. L. C. Dicranoloma setosum (Hook. f. & Wils.) Paris. South Island: Otago—Nothofagus forest near Queenstown. W. Willcox! Ditrichum elongatum Mitt. South Island: Canterbury—On rock, Port Hills. L. C. Grimmia pulvinata (L.) Hook. & Tayl. var. obtusa (Brid.) C. M. & W. P. Schimp. South Island: Canterbury—On rock, Port Hills. L. C.

Hypnum sarmentosum Wahl. South Island: Canterbury—In shallow water, Craigieburn Mountains, at 1,200 m. altitude. L. C. Homalia falcifolia Hook. f. & Wils. South Island: Canterbury—Port Hills. Miss Suckling! Lembophyllum divulsum (Hook. f. & Wils.) Lind. South Island: Canterbury—In forest, Port Hills. Miss Suckling! Leptostomon inclinans R. Br. South Island: Canterbury—Epiphytic on Olearia ilicifolia, totara forest near source of River Rakaia, at 910 m. altitude. L. C. Leptodon Smithii Mohr. South Island: (1.) Canterbury—Totara forest near source of River Rakaia, at 910 m. altitude; L. C. (2.) Port Hills; Miss Suckling! Macromitrium longipes (Hook.) Schwaegr. South Island: Westland—Epiphytic in forest near terminal face of Franz Josef Glacier. L. C. Mnium rostratum (Schrad.) Schwaegr. South Island: Canterbury—Port Hills. Miss Suckling! Pohlia cruda. South Island: Canterbury—Epiphytic on Olearia ilicifolia, totara forest near source of River Rakaia, at 910 m. altitude. L. C. Ptychomion aciculare (Brid.) Mitt. South Island: (1.) Westland—Floor of forest near Jackson's, Taramakau Valley; L. C. (2.) Canterbury—Forest on Port Hills; Miss Suckling! Rhacomitrium symphiodon Mitt. South Island: Westland—Forms first vegetation on face of roche moutonnée, Franz Josef Glacier. L. C. Rhacopilum strumiferum (C. M.) Jaeg. North Island: Auckland—Epiphytic in forest of north. L. C. Tortula kowaiensis R. Br. ter. South Island: (1.) Marlborough—Nothofagus forest, Awatere Valley, at 1,000 m. altitude; L. C. (2.) Canterbury—Totara forest near source of River Rakaia, at 910 m. altitude; L. C. (3.) Nothofagus forest, base of Craigieburn Mountains; L. C. Tridontium tasmanicum Hook. f. North Island: Auckland—North of the province, but habitat uncertain. L. C. Weymouthia Billardieri. South Island: Westland—Epiphytic, hanging from slender branches of shrubs in forest near Franz Josef Glacier. L. C.

2. Spermophytes. Angelica geniculata (Forst. f.) Hook. f. South Island: Nelson—(1.) Island in River Waiau, at Marble Point; C. Christensen! (2.) Base of Shale Peak, Waiau Valley; C. Christensen and W. G. Morrison! This plant has now been recorded from so many stations far inland that it can hardly be considered a coastal species. Celmisia intermedia Petrie. South Island: Canterbury—Fellfield, Mount Oxford. J. E. Holloway! Celmisia pseudo-Lyallii (Cheesem.) Cockayne. South Island: Canterbury—Fellfield, Mount Oxford. J. E. Holloway! Clematis australis T. Kirk. South Island: Canterbury—Mount Oxford. J. E. Holloway! Coriaria thymifolia Humb. & Bonp. South Island: Canterbury—Fellfield, Mount Oxford. J. E. Holloway! Cotula fiiliformis Hook. f. This plant, recorded by me last year (Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 45, p. 254) with a certain degree of doubt as to its true name, has since been compared with the type at Kew by Dr. O. Stapf, F.R.S., to whom I am greatly indebted. Dr. Stapf writes that it exactly matches the type. The plant forms wide patches by means of its very slender, brown, wiry, creeping stems furnished with short roots. The leaves are oblong, 1–2 cm. long, by 5 mm. wide or less in the widest part, green or stained brown near the base, thin, glabrous, deeply pinnatifid, with the subulate segments either entire or sparsely toothed on the upper margin; the leaf-base is broad, sheathing, pale and very thin, and encloses the bud. The scapes are filiform, slightly pilose, and at most 5 cm. long; the head is about 4 mm. in diameter. In cultivation the plant grows with great rapidity, and seems well able to hold its own in competition with Oxalis magellanica and Cotulapyrethrifolia. Cotula pyrethrifolia Hook, f. South Island: Canterbury—Fellfield, Mount Oxford. J. E. Holloway! Drapetes Dieffenbachii Hook, f. South Island: Canterbury—Fellfield, Mount Oxford. J. E. Holloway! Epilobium chloraefolium Hausskn. South Island: Canterbury—Fellfield, Mount Oxford: J. E. Holloway! Forstera Bidwillii Hook. f. South Island: Canterbury—Fellfield, Mount Oxford. J. E. Holloway! Haastia recurva Hook. f. South Island: Nelson—On shingle-slip near summit of Mount Percival. C. E. Christensen and W. G. Morrison!

Helichrysum glomeratum (Hook. f.) Benth. & Hook. South Island: Canterbury—Mount Oxford. J. E. Holloway! Korthalsella Lindsayi (Oliver) Engl. South Island: (1.) Nelson—Island in River Waiau, near Marble Point; parasitic on Angelica geniculata and Sophora microphylla. C. E. Christensen! (2.) Old forest of Canterbury Plain, near Christchurch (Deans' Bush). C. E. Foweraker! Mr. Christensen states that the plant grows far more luxuriantly on Sophora than on Angelica, a happening obviously in harmony with the smaller food-supply provided by the latter. Myosotis pygmaea Col. South Island: Canterbury—Fellfield, Mount Oxford. J. E. Holloway! In my opinion, Myosotis antarctica Hook. f., of Campbell Island, is amply distinct from any of the forms in New Zealand proper hitherto referred to that species, and as Colenso's M. pygmaea is obviously one of the forms of the aggregate species, and, so far as I know, the first name published, I am using it for the present to include all the forms in New Zealand of what have hitherto been called M. antarctica. Nertera Balfouriana Cockayne. South Island: Southland—Riverton flats. J. Crosby Smith! Olearia arborescens (Forst. f.) Cockayne and Laing. South Island: Canterbury—Mount Oxford. J. E. Holloway! Olearia ilicifolia Hook. f. South Island: Canterbury—Mount Oxford. J. E. Holloway! Ourisia caespitosa Hook. f. South Island: Canterbury—Fellfield, Mount Oxford. J. E. Holloway! Pimelea Lyallii Hook. f. South Island: Canterbury—Fellfield, Mount Oxford. J. E. Holloway! Phyllachne Colensoi (Hook. f.) Berggren. South Island: Canterbury—Fellfield, Mount Oxford. J. E. Holloway Pittosporum Ralphii T. Kirk. North Island: Hawke's Bay—Growing on the banks of rivers in company with Sophora grandiflora and Hoheria sexstylosa, in the northern part of the province. A frequent and characteristic plant. L. C. This species is mentioned not because the habitat is new, but in order to emphasize the abundance of the species and to define its habitat conditions. Pratia macrodon Hook. f. South Island: Canterbury—Fellfild, Mount Oxford. J. E. Holloway!

Pratia perpusilla Hook. f. North Island: Hawke's Bay—Growing on flat rock near margm of lake where water can lie after rain, Lake Waikaremoana. L. C. This habitat is not new, for it is given by Cheeseman (Manual, p. 398), but there is no information as to the conditions under which the plant is growing. Raoulia Beauverdii Cockayne nom. nov. —R. Monroi Beauv. in Bull. Soc. Bot. Geneva, vol. 4 (1912), p. South Island: (1.) Otago — Steppe of Central Otago; common. (2.) Southland—Sand-dunes along Foveaux Strait. L. C. Upon reading Beauverd's descriptions of R. Monroi and R. Cheesemanii in the paper cited above I felt convinced that a mistake had been made, and consequently sent specimens of R. Cheesemanii Beauv. (R. Monroi Hook. f.) to Dr. O. Stapf, F.R.S., so that they could be compared with the type at Kew. Dr. Stapf replied by return of post confirming my opinion, and stating that the specimens exactly matched the type of R. Monroi Hook. f. It is quite easy to see how Beauverd was misled, for Hooker did not mention the distichous arrangement of the leaves, a most obvious character, that at once separates R. Monroi from any other species, and consequently seeing a plant with distichous leaves he concluded it must be “new.” Also, both by Kirk (“Students' Flora,” p. 303) and Cheeseman (Manual, p. 330) nothing is said as to distichous leaves, for both these authors united the true R. Monroi to an Otago plant with leaves in several ranks, the R. Monroi Beauv., in fact, giving the name R. Monroi to the joint species. Thus the synonomy of R. Beauverdii Cockayne is R. Monroi Beauv., R. Monroi T. Kirk in part, and R. Monroi Cheesm. in part. That my identification of the Southland sandhills' plant is correct is supported by the fact that Kirk (l.c.) gives Riverton Beach as the southern limit of the species, where the only other species of Raoulia is R. australis. Regarding the distichous leaves, I may mention that Mr. R. Brown, our late member, first called my attention to them as an excellent specific character. I give no description of the species, for Beauverd's, illustrated by an excellent figure, is admirable. Rhagodia nutans R. Br. South Island: Nelson—Island in the River Waiau near Marble Point. C. E. Christensen! This is a remarkable station for a plant supposed to be coastal. Senecio cassinioides Hook. f. South Island: Canterbury—Mount Oxford. J. E. Holloway! Veronica pinguifolia Hook. f. South Island: Canterbury—Mount Oxford. J. E. Holloway! Veronica Traversii Hook. f. South Island: Canterbury—Mount Oxford. J. E. Holloway!