22 FLORA ANTARCTICA. [Auckland and 



leaves, it assumes a spiny appearance. The leaves are patent, ^— ^ inch long, scarcely coriaceous ; the stipules 

 hairy and ciliated at the margins. 



5. Coprosma ciliata, Hook. fil. ; fruticosa, ramis pilosis, foliis oppositis solitariis vel fascicu- 

 latis submembranaceis elliptico-lanceolatis obtusis v. subacutis basi in petiolurn perbrevem attenuatis 

 ciliatis, petiolo costaque subtus prsecipue hirsutis, stipulis apice barbatis. 



/S. virgata, laxe foliosa, ramis virgatis tenuibus. 



Hab. Lord Auckland's group ; in ravines, alt. 500-1000 feet. /3. In Campbell's Island, in 

 shady situations near the sea. 



A common shrub, especially in Lord Auckland's group, where it forms a densely branched bush, growing 

 from 8-10 feet high. The Campbell's Island specimens again are very lax, twiggy, and sparingly leafy ; and 

 the leaves, which in a. are i— | inch long, are in /3. generally under that size. I have seen neither flower nor fruit. 

 The bushes of the various species of Coprosma compose a dense and impenetrable thicket, on the margins of the 

 narrow gulleys formed by water-courses on the faces of the hills. Becoming stunted and much branched from 

 the violence of the perennial gales, they offer as powerful an obstacle to the traveller here as the beeches do in 

 Tierra del Fuego. In both cases it is almost equally impossible to penetrate them ; but, extraordinary as it 

 may appear, their branches are so gnarled and densely matted, that their flat summits will often bear the human 

 weight, and almost admit of walking upon them. 



6. Coprosma repens, Hook. fil. ; fruticulosa longe repens ramosissima glaberrima, ramis ra- 

 mulisque brevibus, foliis parvis coriaceo-carnosis rigidis ovatis in petiolurn brevem latiusculum atte- 

 nuatis supra planis v. concavis subtus convexis, stipulis brevibus obtusis carnosis una cum petiolis 

 connato-vaginatis, floribus solitariis terminalibus baccis 2 — 4 pyrenis. (Tab. XVI.) 



Hab. Lord Auckland's and Campbell's Island ; common from the sea to the tops of the hills. 



Caules pedales et ultra, vage repentes, floras tenues ramosas ad axillas foliorum emittentes, cortice cinereo 

 spongioso saepe obtecti, crassitie penna? passerina?. Folia breviter petiolata, horizontaliter patentia, conferta, 

 crassiuscula, ovata v. elliptica, obtusa, concava, nitida, enervia, sub. 3 lin. longa. Stipulee late ovatse, obtusse, 

 glaberrima?. Flores ad apices ramorum solitarii, sessiles, verosimiliter dioici. Calycis limbus profunde 4-par- 

 titus ; segmentis lineari-ovatis obtusis. Corolla (in exemplaribus Tasmanicis solummodo mihi visa) tubulosa, 

 subcampanulata, paululum curvata ; tubo elongato, ore quadrifido ; segmentis ovatis, subacutis. Stamina 4 ; 

 filamentis longissimis, exsertis ; antheris majusculis, pendulis, linearibus, ungue uncinato terminatis. Styli 2, 

 longe exserti, pubescentes. Bacca (in exempl. Aucklandicis) subglobosa, omnino sessilis, diametro 3 lin., pal- 

 lide vel intensius rubra, carnosa et aquosa, intus 2-4-pyrena. Nuculee crustacean, 1-loculares, 1-spermae, unica 

 v. duobus A. majoribus. Semen erectum ; testa fusca, membranacea ; albumine carnoso. Embryo majusculus ; 

 radicula hilo proxima, elongata, terete ; cotyledonibits latis. 



This plant is apparently identical with a species collected on Middlesex Plains, Tasmania, by R. C. Gunn, 

 Esq. ; a remarkable circumstance, as its low, procumbent mode of growth gives it the appearance of being an 

 Antarctic form of the genus. The Auckland Island specimens I gathered with young and ripe fruit only, the 

 corolla and styles having invariably fallen away. These latter, as well as the stamens, I have drawn and de- 

 scribed from Mr. Gunn's specimens, fully believing the two plants to be the same. I must however here re- 

 mark, that other states from either locality may be found to possess unexpected characters of sufficient import- 

 ance to keep them distinct. I am not aware of any other species exhibiting 4 nucules. 



The prevalence of Rubiacea in these islands is a very singular fact in botanical geography ; ranking as 

 they do in number of species next only to Composite among Dicotyledonous plants, and almost equalling 



