L. Cockayne. — Notes on New Zealand Floristic Botany. 181 



No. 1 had leaves about 17 mm. long by 15 mm. broad, with reddish 

 slightly bullate surface, the apex subacute, and the lamina-base not tapering 

 — i.e., they were almost pure bullata type. But other leaves were only 

 10 mm. long by 9 mm. broad, and had the obcordata lamina-base, while 

 one leaf was slightly emarginate. 



No. 4 had many obovate leaves, but others tapered at both apex and 

 base of lamina, and in one case the apex was acute ; some were almost 

 flat and some slightly bullate. 



No. 5 had its slightly bullate leaves generally emarginate with tapering 

 lamina-base ; some leaves were almost rotund. This specimen might well 

 have been taken for M. obcordata were it not for the slightly bullate leaves. 



No. 7 had leaves up to 19 mm. long by 15 mm. broad, their apex 

 o-enerally rounded or subacute, but the bases of the laminae generally tapered 

 and a few leaves had an emarginate apex. 



No. 8 showed little sign of any obcordata character, but a few leaves 

 had their bases strongly tapering. 



No. 9 was a distinct form with the large (20 mm. by 15 mm.) leaves 

 pale green, but here again actual obcordate leaves were present. 



No. 10 strongly approached M. obcordata, but traces of the bullate sur- 

 face were present, while in some leaves the emarginate apex was wanting 

 and in many not strongly developed. 



No. 14 was a distinct form with quite small leaves, but these were 

 distinctly of the bullata type, though even here one obcordate leaf was noted. 

 No. 16 is specially worthy of mention. It had bright-green flat leaves, 

 small, but larger than in M. obcordata of the locality. There was hardly 

 a trace of emarginate apex, and the base of the lamina did not markedly 

 taper. Here the most characteristic feature of the series of intermediates- 

 — the more or less bullate surface — was absent, but so was the emarginate 

 apex of M obcordata. 



No. 17 was similar to No. 16, and were it not for the number of leaves 

 with non-emarginate apex and a very slight trace of a bullate surface here 

 and there the specimen would be M. obcordata pure and simple. 



My contention of the hybrid origin of Myrtus Ralphii does not rest upon 

 the above examples alone. At the " Meeting of the Waters," near New 

 Plymouth, there, not in a wind-swept habitat, but in the moist, still atmo- 

 sphere of the forest-interior, I saw an astonishing series of intermediates 

 between M. bullata and M. obcordata, both these species being also present. 

 It was seeing these plants, indeed, which first suggested the theory of hybrid 

 origin, and which led me to carefully examine the plants of the Wellington 

 wind-scrub. Unfortunately, I was not in a position at the time to secure 

 material for a searching examination. 



At Kenepuru Inlet, Marlborough Sounds, I collected specimens of 

 Myrtus Ralphii. At that time I had no suspicion of its hybrid origin, or 

 I should have collected far more, copiously and taken special notes. But 

 the specimens did strike me as not typical M . Ralphii. Examining them 

 (five specimens) now I see that most of the leaves are more or less rotund, 

 large, + 15 mm. long, and have little trace of a bullate surface. But an 

 emarginate apex is present in a good many cases, and occurs on leaves- 

 even 10 mm. long. One specimen has much smaller leaves, obcordate or 

 broadly obovate, and it may be true M. obcordata. 



In Colenso's herbarium, now to be consulted at the Dominion Museum, 

 Wellington, there are a number of Hawke's Bay specimens of Myrtus- 

 Ralphii. Amongst these there is no uniformity, and they present features, 

 such as already described. 



