Buchanan. — On Cyttaria purdiei. 317 



y 1 ^ inch long, invested at the base with involucels similar to 

 those of the males. Calyx limb irregularly 4-5 toothed. Corolla 

 short, broadly tubular, 4-lobed to below the middle. Styles, 2. 

 Drupe globose, £ inch diameter, blueish. 



Hab. South Island, mountains near Lake Tekapo, Canter- 

 bury, altitude 4,000 feet ; T.F.C. Uplands in the interior of 

 Otago, common ; D. Petrie ! 



Mr. Petrie and myself had placed this, with some doubt, 

 under C. repens. But Sir Joseph Hooker and Mr. N. E. Brown 

 agree in considering it quite distinct from both C. repens and 

 C. pumila. The infundibuliform corolla of the male flowers is 

 certainly very distinct from the curved tubular one of C. repens. 



Art. LII. — On Cyttaria Purdiei, Buck. 



By John Buchanan, F.L.S. 



[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 2ith February, 1886.J 



Plate XI. 

 The present interesting ephiphytic fungus, although probably 

 abundant in New Zealand, has not hitherto been noticed as 

 occurring there in any scientific work. The genus Cyttaria, to 

 which it belongs, is supposed to be limited in distribution to 

 South America and Tasmania, where two species are known and 

 used as food. They are always found epiphytic on species of 

 Fagus or beech, and will probably be found wherever this family 

 is abundant. 



The internal cavity of this fungus has always been found 

 empty ; yet it is probable that in the earlier stages of the plant 

 it may be filled with a gelatinous fluid, which is afterwards 

 absorbed or dried up. This can only be proved by an examina- 

 tion of numerous specimens in different stages of growth. 



EEFEEENCE TO PLATE. 



Fig. 1. Branch of Fagus fusca with plants of Cyttaria purdiei adhering. 



2. Young plants of Cyttaria purdiei, with the spore cups or cells 



still covered by a thin membrane. 



3. Plant with the spore cups or cells divested of their membranous 



covering and empty. 



4. Section of plant, showing the empty cells with rounded bottoms, 



and the interior of the fungus empty. 



5. Asci with sporidia. 



6. Spores. 



