242 Transactions. — Botany. 



with cottony hairs loosely interwoven. Thus, the sheath- 

 ing petioles and the persistent remains of the leaf-sheath 

 and leaves of the preceding year form an efficient protection 

 for the delicate bud. Early in spring new shoots are put 

 forth from near the apex of the branches at the same time 

 that the flower makes its appearance, such shoots in three 

 weeks in cultivation attaining a length of + 3 cm. The 

 leaves close to the end of the shoot are arranged spirally, but 

 the remainder are brought into two ranks through twisting 

 of the leaf-sheaf, the leaf-surface thus becommg horizontal. 

 This dorsi-ventral habit seems hereditary, a stem which had 

 been planted so as to be vertical at a height of 5'4em. from 

 the ground put forth in spring three dorsi-ventral shoots, 

 which stretched out in the air parallel to the ground and at 

 right angles to the vertical stem. The internodes of young 

 shoots are densely covered with loose white cottony tomentum. 

 The flower-heads are 7 mm. in diameter, the florets yellow 

 in colour and densely packed together ; the peduncles are 

 + 1-3 cm. long, and tomentose. 



Colobanthus muscoides is an extremely dense cushion 

 plant, more or less circular in outline, with a convex upper 

 surface. The shoots are packed as closely together as those 

 of the -'vegetable sheep" {Raoulia mammillarts) , so that the 

 plant as a whole can be quite easily removed from the ground, 

 and when dry makes an interesting museum object. These 

 dense cushions are bright-green in colour, and vary consider- 

 ably in size, a lai'ge one measuring 54 cm. in diameter. The 

 leaves are linear in shape, quite glabrous, + 6 mm. in length 

 X 1 mm. in breadth, and fleshy. They form little rosettes of 

 about six leaves each at the extremity of each shoot. Below — 

 that is, within the cushion — the old leaves are all in a greater 

 or less advanced stage of decay, and form a dense, yellow, 

 sticky, peaty mass ± 10 cm. in depth, through which the 

 shoot-axes penetrate, giving off at the under-surface of the 

 cushion a large number of fine roots. The peaty mass 

 absorbs water like a sponge, and in the wet climate must 

 nearly always be saturated with moisture. 



The endemic species of Plantago forms rather hard green 

 round rosettes, often pressed closely together and flattened 

 close to the surface of the rock. These rosettes measure 

 i 4 cm. in diameter. The leaves are fleshy, rather stifl", and 

 bright-green in colour. Those of tne periphery are the 

 longest, those more internal being shorter, but broader in 

 proportion to their length. The epidermis is strongly cuti- 

 cularised on the upper surface. There is a dense palisade 

 parenchyma, and a rather close, round-celled spongy paren- 

 chyma. Numerous resin-passages are present. The root- 

 stock is short and thick, and gives off several long deeply 



