Cheeseman. — Contributions to Knowledgt of Flora of N .Z . 13 



Urtica ferox Forst. 



Mr. T. H. Trevor has discovered another locality for this sjiecies in the 

 Bay of Islands County, a few miles distant from the Ngamahanga wahi-tapu 

 mentioned in my last contribution to this series {Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 51, 

 p. 89). This makes it probable that the plant may be observed in other 

 stations north of Auckland. For a new southern locality I am indebted to 

 Mr. A. Allison, who informs me that it is not uncommon at the base of the 

 Paeroa Range, between Waiotapu and Orakei-korako. 



Freycinetia Banksii A. Cunn. 



1 am not aware that any one has recorded the presence of curious 

 floating roots in Freycinetia Banksii. My first acquaintance with them 

 was derived from a fragment forwarded by Mr. B. C. Aston last February, 

 which was collected by Mr. Sidney Fry in the Totara Creek, a small 

 tributary of the Mokau River, junctioning with it about eighteen miles 

 above its mouth. This fragment presented several unusual features, 

 and I was consequently glad to avail myself of the kind assistance of 

 Mr. Colin Stewart, at that time residing in the locality, for obtaining a 

 copious supply of specimens. These consisted of slender roots, often 

 several feet in length, in which the central axis is firm and solid, but 

 the cortical tissue very loose and open. These roots are copiously 

 branched, the ultimate divisions being very numerous and filiform. The 

 outstanding peculiarity of the roots, however, which at once attracts 

 attention, is that they are regularly girdled, as it were, with conspicuous 

 spongy or corky whitish rings. These give the roots a very remarkable 

 appearance, so that Mr. Fry, their original discoverer, describes them as 

 " wavina; about with the disturbing currents like so manv worms, their 

 brown segmented forms, with the whitish sheaths encircling them at 

 intervals, giving them the appearance of ringed worms." 



Mr. Colin Stewart, in endeavouring to find the origin of the roots, con- 

 sidered that he had traced them to a tree \^hich I have identified as 

 Eugenia maire, the branches, leaves, and pneumatophores of which he sent. 

 But this I believe to be a very pardonable mistake. A lengthened search 

 at Birkdale, in a swampy district where both Eugenia and Freycinetia are 

 abundant, and in which I had the assistance of Mr. F. S. Fisher and 

 ]Mr. John Bishop, resulted in showing that while it was comparatively easy 

 to connect the floating roots with Freycinetia, and the pneumatophores 

 with Eugenia, all attempts to trace the floating roojs to Eugenia failed. 



The exact use of these " floating roots " in Freycinetia must remain 

 doubtful until their anatomical structure has been investigated, but in all 

 probability they may be looked upon as " breathing-roots." 



Juncus scheuchzerioides Gaud. 



This is one of the species added to the florula of Macquarie Island by 

 Mr. H. Hamilton, during the stay of a portion of the Australasian Antarctic 

 Expedition on that island during the years 1911-13. It is a true circum- 

 polar plant, having been recorded from the Auckland and Campbell Islands, 

 Antipodes Islands, Fuegia, Falkland Islands, South Georgia, the Crozets>. 

 and Kerguelen Islands. 



