148 Transactions. — Botany. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATES XIV., XV. 



Plate XIY. B. robustifulia, sp. nov. 



1. Capsule. 



2. Perichsetial leaves. 



3. First leaf outside perichsetial. 



4. Upper leaves. 



5. Middle leaf. 



Plate XV. B. liapnTxa, sp. nov. 



1. Capsule. 



2. Peristome. 



3. Perichsetial leaves. 



4. First leaf outside pericbtetial. 



5. Upper leaves. 



6. Middle leaf. 



Akt. XIX. — Notes on the New Zealand Musci : On a Pro- 



jjosed Neiv Genus. 



By EoBEET Brown. 



[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, Mh October, 



1899.] 



Plate XVI. 



Ix June, 1889, while botanizing in Stewart Island, in the 

 narrow valley which extends from Paterson's Inlet to Mason's 

 Bay, on the west coast of the island, I found the moss which 

 is the subject of this paper. On the northern side of this 

 valley, nearly opposite Mr. W. Walker's house, a small rill 

 runs from the side of the hill and spreads out on the flat 

 ground, forming a kind of sub- marsh, and it was here the 

 moss was found. It was confined to a space of about 

 20 yards in diameter, and was in great abundance, but, 

 being an annual, it was long past maturity. 



In form the capsules of this moss resemble those of the 

 genus Trematodon, to which it has a close aflinity. No trace 

 of a peristome was found, and from the condition the capsules 

 were in it was doubtful if they had not been destroyed. 



I again visited Stewart Island in January, 1892, with the 

 hope that among the specimens collected there might be per- 

 fect specimens of the above-mentioned moss. On the morn- 

 ing after my arrival at Mr. Walker's station I started for the 

 habitat where I had found this moss so plentiful on a former 

 occasion, but on arriving there I found that a fire had passed 

 over the place, destroying all trace of the plants. Thinking 

 that there might be other habitats of this moss found in the 

 valley, I commenced a systematic search of it from one end 

 to the other, but without seeing a single specimen. I then 

 extended the search into a branch of the valley which ended 

 on the sea-beach opposite the Euggedy Isles, and this also 



