22 Transactions. — Botany. 



Starirastrum hieneanum, Eabeuhorst, forma minor. Plate 

 IV., fig. 36. 



Frond small ; segments iu front-view fusiform, with very 

 wide constriction ; in end-view triangular, with deeply concave 

 sides, and rounded, rather tapering, angles ; cytioderm punctate, 

 the puncta in transverse lines ; edges apparently not perfectly 

 smooth. 



Long., 20-25 /x; lat., 15-22 /x. 



Hawke's Bay ; Wellington; Otaki. 



I prefer attaching this plant to Eabenhorst's species (which, 

 indeed, he considered rather a variety of S. orbiculare, but 

 which later authors have considered distinct), instead of erect- 

 ing it into a separate species on the minute variations which 

 it presents. 



Staiirastrum suh-amcemim, sp. nov. Plate IV., fig. 37. 



Frond small, slightly variable in size ; constriction only a 

 minute notch. Segments in front-view unequally pentagonal, 

 the sides obscurely sinuous and widening from the base to the 

 sub-acute lateral angles, thence tapering rapidly to the terminal 

 angles ; ends straight. The edges all round are obscurely 

 irregular. "Within the border the edges of the side-view can 

 be seen. Cytioderm punctate ; puncta in concentric curves. 

 In side-view the segments are lozenge-shaped, the angles 

 slightly truncate ; edge irregular ; puncta in longitudinal 

 series, and the edge of the front-view is visible. In end-view 

 the frond is four-sided, the angles slightly truncate, sides 

 slightly concave, puncta transverse. 



Long., 35-39 /x; lat., 28-33 /x. 



Hawke's Bay. 



This plant belongs to the series of S. caintulum, Brebissou, 

 and S. ama^num, Hilse, of which Professor Nordstedt reports 

 a variety, " tumidiusculum," from New Zealand, It is, how- 

 ever, less ornate than any of these, and also smaller. S. 

 mcriani, Reinsch (as figured by Wolle, " Desm. of U.S.") also 

 approaches it. 



Staurastrum alternans, Brebisson, var. sub-alternans, var. 

 nov. Plate IV., fig. 38. 



Frond small ; segments in front-view sub-elliptical ; when 

 viewed slightly tilted (as in the figure) the third angles of the 

 two segments are not exactly opposite. In end-view, seg- 

 ments triangular, sides concave, angles rounded ; the frond 

 being only slightly twisted, the angles of each segment are 

 neither quite in correspondence nor quite alternate. Cytio- 

 derm punctate, the puncta transverse. 



Long., 25 /a; lat., 26-7 /x. 



Christchurch ; Hawke's Bay. 



