64 FLORA ANTARCTICA. [Auckland and 



XXIII. PLANTAGINE.E, Juss. 



1. Plantago (Psyllium, Endl.) Aucklandica, Hook. fil. ; acaulis, collo crassissimo elongate, foliis 

 vix petiolatis numerosis confertis obovato-lanceolatis obtusis glabris 7 _ 9- n erviis integerrimis v. 

 obscure sinuato-dentatis, basi angustatis intus ferrugineo-tomentosis, scapis plurimis erectis v. ascen- 

 dentibus parce hispido-pilosis, spicislineari-elongatis densifloris, bracteis obtusis, segmentis calycinis 

 late ovatis obtusis, capsulis calyce duplo longioribus 2-spermis. (Tab. XLII.) 



Hab. Lord Auckland's group; on the mountain ridges at an altitude of 1000-1200 feet, in a 

 peaty soil. 



Planta 4-10-pollicaris, niagnitudine satis varia, habitu P. media. Radix perennis, perpendicularis v. incli- 

 nata, tri- quadri-pollicaris, fusiforniis, crassa, per totam longitudinem fibras crassas, succulentas, elongatas 

 emittens, et interne in fibras ramosas, subsimiles desinens ; collum cra^sissimum, interdum J pollicis diametro, 

 tomento rufo reliquiisque paucis foliorum vetustorum cinctum, rarius elongatum et supra terram elatum, sim- 

 plex v. rarissime biceps. Folia numerosissima, singula planta 15-30, conferta, exteriora patentia, plurima 

 suberecta, crassa et coriacea, exemplaribus plerisque 4-5-pollicaria, 2^ unc. lata, inter se admodum conformia, 

 obovato- v. elliptico-lanceolata, obtusa v. subacuta, in petiolum latum, ima basi dilatatum contracta, 7-10- 

 nervia, vix costata, utrinque glaberrima, v. rarius pilis conspersis, paucis, albis subhispida, praecipue ad basim 

 scaporum villoso-barbata, tomento molli, denso, ferrugineo, e pilis intertextis, simplicibus, remote articulatis for- 

 mata ; marginibus tenuiter subrecurvis v. planis, remote et obscure sinuato-dentatis ; supra luride-viridia, opaca ; 

 subtus pallidiora ; siccitate fusca, v. atro-fusca ; interiora et juniora angustiora, subspathulata, 3-5-nervia ; inti- 

 mislineari-lanceolatis. Scapi plurimi, 5-10, elongati, una-cum spica 5-8-pollicares, erecti v. ascendentes, cur- 

 vati, graciles, teretes, pilis patentibus, albis, superne praecipue subhispidi, basi ferrugineo-tomentosi, crassitie 

 pennre corvinas, siccitate atri. Spica 2-3 unc. longs, ^ unc. lata?, cylindricae, obtusae, superne praecipue densi- 

 florae, floribus basi distantibus ; racbi pilosa. Flores magnitudine P. majoris, omnino sessiles, unibracteati. 

 Bractea late ovatos, obtusae, concavae, subcymbiformes, crassae et carnosae, calyce paulo breviores, basin ejus fere 

 cingens. Calyx tetraphyllus, basi villosus, | lin. longus ; segmentis late ovato-oblongis, suborbicularibus, sca- 

 pbiformibus, medio carnosis, marginibus membranaceis, siccitate scariosis. Corolla tubus calyce paulo longior ; 

 limbi segmentis ovato-lanceolatis, acutis, patenti-reflexis, marginibus involutis, medio late uninerviis, tubo paulo 

 brevioribus. Stamina filamentis planis, flexuosis, longe exsertis ; antberis majusculis, late sagittatis. Pollen 

 angulatum, flavum. Ovarium obovatum, compressum, utrinque sulcatum basi attenuatum, spurie biloculare ; 

 columua centralis placentifera a dissepimentis retractis discedens, ovula 2, peltata gerens. Capsula turgida, 

 ovata, foliolis calycinis bis longior. 



This species is very distinct from any with which I am acquainted, and is apparently most nearly allied to 

 the P. hirtella, H.B.K. (Nov. Gen. et Sp. t. 127), but that plant has the bracteas and calycine segments acute ; 

 it grows nowhere on the low grounds of Lord Auckland's group, but appears confined to the summits of the 

 hills, where it is not unfrequent. It is remarkable for its numerous leaves, which are generally quite smooth 

 and very fleshy, often forming a dense head, not unlike that of a small cabbage. In the smoothness, thick and 

 succulent habit and stout collum, it bears some affinity to the caulescent species of Juan Fernandez and other 

 insular situations ; in some of which the apparent stems are, as in P. Fer/iandeziana, Bert., in reality an elon- 

 gation of the naked collum : indeed of the so-called shrubby or caulescent species, very few of this group or 

 form are really so, except the P. princeps, Cham, and Schl. (Linnaea, vol. i. p. 167). The stem of P. Que- 

 leniana, Gaud., is of the same nature as that of P. Fernandeziana, the two plants indeed are very closely allied, 

 as are those of P. arborescens of Madeira and the Canary Islands, and of P. robusta of St. Helena. 



The uniform and equable climate of insular situations, especially in the southern hemisphere, would appear 



