Colenso. — Newly-discovered Indigenous Plants, 257 



numerous, rather small, elliptic, obtuse, with a minute connec- 

 tive ; stamens somewhat clavate, or with the anther sub- 

 spathulate. Heads small, broadly ovate ; receptacle elongated, 

 glabrous, finely papillose. Achenes (immature) long, narrow, 

 subulate, erect, slightly hairy below ; style scarcely recurved, 

 glabrous ; tip (stigma) minutely pencilled. 



Hub. On spurs of the east slopes of the Euahine mountain 

 range, County of Waipawa ; November, 1885 : Mr, H. Hill. 



Ubs. A fine and striking species, but closely allied to R. 

 insignis, Hook. fil. ; differing, however, in its smaller size ; 

 orbicular strigillose leaves ; larger, ribbed, and ciliated sepals; 

 fewer, deeply emarginate, broader and rumpled petals ; and 

 especially in their possessing but a single glandular depression — 

 R. insignis having more (2, "Flora N.Z. ;" 3,* "Handbook" 

 ditto) ; on which grave characteristic stress is also laid — and 

 also in the form and construction of the anthers. It is, however, 

 worthy of note, that R. insignis is a denizen of the higher summits 

 of this mountain range (where it was originally discovered by 

 me), while this plant is found on the lower spurs of the same 

 range. 



Order VI. CAEYOPHYLLE.E. 



Genus 2. Stellaria, Linn. 

 1. S. oligospermia, sp. nov. 



A slender prostrate rambling flaccid creeping and glabrous 

 herb, 1 foot or more long, growing in pretty large entangled 

 patches of many feet, rooting from its nodes. Leaves few, 

 distant, opposite in pairs, very thin, light-green, orbicular, 2-21 

 lines diameter, with intra-marginal parallel vein, apiculate, 

 petioles slender, longer than leaves, with a few w r eak hairs. 

 Peduncles axillary, much longer than leaves, patent, two- 

 flowered ; pedicels 4-6 lines long, unequal in length though 

 springing from the same base, erect and divergent at right angles 

 with a pair of bracts at their base, and another pair below the 

 middle of the longer pedicel ; bracts ovate-acuminate, scarious 

 with a dark central line. Flowers 1| lines diameter ; sepals 5, 

 ovate-acuminate, 1-nerved with white scarious margins ; petals 5 

 divided to base, each lobe linear-spathulate ; stamens usually 9 ; 

 styles 3, large, flexuous ; capsule twice the length of sepals, 

 very membranous, white, 6-valved nearly to base, valves reflexed ; 

 seeds few and large, usually 6, sometimes fewer, orbicular, 

 turgid, with a notch, bright cinnamon-coloured when first ripe, 

 becoming dark-brown with age, finely and regularly marked 

 somewhat concentrically, not pitted. 



* Can this " 3 " be an overlooked " printer's error " ? as two only are 

 shown in the admirable plate in " Flora Novjb Zelandias," and also twice 

 repeated in tbe description. 



17 



