



TEANSACTIONS 



OF THE 



NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE, 



1888. 



I.— BOTANY. 



Akt. I. — Further Notes on the DesmidieaB of Neio Zealand, 

 with Descriptions of Ne2c Species. 



By W. M. Maskell, F.E.M.S. 



[Read before the Wellington Pliilosophical Society, 3rd October, ISSS.] 



Plates I. to YI. 



This paper contains descriptions of several plants to be added 

 to the lists given in my papers of 18S0 and 1882, also correc- 

 tions of some of the identifications in those papers. These 

 corrections are due partly to more complete acquaintance 

 with the writings of foreign authors on the subject, partly 

 to suggestions from Professor Nordstedt, of Lund, Mr. W. B. 

 Turner, of Leeds, and others who have kindly assisted me 

 with advice. 



The literature of the Desmidiecs is becoming every year 

 more and more voluminous ; unhappily, also, it is very scat- 

 tered. Some works, such as those of Ealfs for England, 

 Wolle for the United States, Delponte for Northern Italy, 

 may be considered as fairly monographic as regards those 

 countries, and are procurable in book-form ; but the equally 

 valuable labours of Brebisson, Naegeli, Lundell, Nordstedt, 

 Bennett, Lagerheim, Wille, and many others are to be found 

 chiefly in short papers in Transactions of various societies, 

 and are accessible with great difficulty. Any oue who is aware 

 of the extreme minuteness of Desmids, in which sometimes 

 the ten-thousandth of an inch is of importance, and of the 

 delicate variations they exhibit (perhaps an extra crenulation 

 or two on the edge, an extra granule on the frond), will 

 recognise the difficulty of a student of the family in a country 

 like this. Whoever will undertake the preparation of a mono- 

 graph of the DcsmidiecB will earn the gratitude of all who care 

 to examine these beautiful little plants. 

 1 



