260 Transactions. — Botany. 



resist the wind, and at the same time it prevents the encroach- 

 ment of other plants. The winter roseites, as shown above, 

 are much smaller— 25 cm., or about 10 in., in diameter. The 

 leaves have white sheathing bases, which in the largest — i.e., 

 the outermost — measure + 6 cm. long x ± 7 cm. in breadth, 

 and are densely clothed with long silky hairs pressed closely 

 against the surface. The lamina of such a leaf measures 

 14 cm. X 14 cm. On its under-surface are about twenty-five 

 very prominent, stout, firm ribs forming the boundaries of 

 channels + 3mm. in breadth, filled with a loose tomentum. 

 These channels gradually narrow towards the leaf-base, and 

 are widest above, measuring in one leaf measured 9 mm. 

 The upper surface of the leaf is much channelled with 

 parallel channels, triangular in cross -section and + 9 mm. 

 wide from ridge to ridge. On the ridges are many trans- 

 parent moniliform hairs which stretcii over the channels. 

 The general aspect of the leaf, so far as its ridges and chan- 

 nels are concerned, is that of the corrugated iron so much 

 used in roofing in New Zealand, and this corrugated ap- 

 pearance must be still more strikmg in adult leaves. Within 

 the excellent jDi'otection afforded by the leaf -sheaths an^ 

 the bright pale-yellow leaves of the young bud. A cross- 

 section of the leaf shows a thin-walled epidermis, with the 

 outer wall hardlv thicker than the inner ones. Beneath this 

 is a one- or, in places, a two-layered large-celled water tissue. 

 The palisade parenchyma consists of rather short, oblong 

 cells, and the spongy parenchyma is extremely loose, the 

 intercellular spaces being of very large size. The roots are 

 large and fleshy, but my notes say nothing as to their direc- 

 tion in the soil. 



As for Pleurophyllum criniferuiu, I did not note it at all 

 on either Auckland or Campbell Island, owing to its habit of 

 dying completely to the ground in winter, the tips of the buds 

 alone just projecting above the surface ; nor was it until dig- 

 ging in the bogs of Antipodes Island that I met with this, 

 to all accounts, very common plant. The young bud is 

 closely surrounded by a very thick covering of old leaf-bases 

 in various stages of decay. Kirk describes the adult plant as 

 of a very different habit from P. speciosiim : " The leaves are 

 usually petioled, and from lift, to 3ft. in length, suberect 

 and spreading, forming a ring round the erect scapes" (56, 

 p. 220). In texture they are " membranous, but firm, white 

 with thin tomentum beneath " (58, p. 434). Hooker speaks 

 of this plant "a»so bulky that an ordinary specimen weighs 

 many pounds" (46, p. 33), and from this latter it may be 

 seen how great a peat-maker this species must be. 



BulhincUa rossii, which in sunmier has numerous thick, 

 spreading, broad leaves 40 cm. long x 35 cm. broad, in winter, 



