T. Kiek. — A Revision of the New Zealand Gentians. 331 



admitting that all the New Zealand species are closely related 

 to G. montana, long-continued observation of these plants in 

 the recent state has convinced me that they may be dis- 

 tinguished without any great amount of difficulty. Further, 

 it must be held doubtful whether the true G. saxosa has been 

 found in Australia. I have seen no Australian specimens, and, 

 in my opinion, it could not possibly be included under the 

 description of G. montana, var. saxosa, in " Flora Austral- 

 iensis," iv., 373, of G. saxosa in Baron von Mueller's "Key 

 to the System of Victorian Plants," 357, nor of G. saxosa in 

 C. Moore's " Handbook of the Flora of New South Wales," 

 311, all of which agree in ignoring the remarkable calyx of 

 the New Zealand plant. It may possibly be found on the 

 southern coast of Tasmania, but the probability seems to me 

 extremely small. Under the description of species (p. 338) 

 I have tried to account for this strongly-marked plant having 

 been confused with others, and will only add that, even 

 if G. montana and G. pleurogynoides should ultimately be 

 found inseparable, G. saxosa must always be maintained as 

 a distinct species. 



A genus so widely distributed must necessarily comprise a 

 large proportion of variable species, but the New Zealand 

 forms are remarkable for the excessive amount of variation 

 exhibited by several. Not only does it affect the habit, 

 stature, branching, texture, and inflorescence as well as the 

 shape and size of the flowers, but it extends to the reproduc- 

 tive system : both calyx and corolla vary greatly in the 

 depth to which they are divided, and in the outline of the 

 segments, while even the form and position of the ovary are 

 affected in some instances : the typical form having the ovary 

 sessile, while in a trivial variety it becomes stipitate. This 

 variation renders it difficult to find characters sufficiently 

 stable to warrant the constitution of species, and makes it 

 necessarv to define an unusually large number of varieties. 

 There is evidence leading to the conclusion that hybridiza- 

 tion is largely responsible for this condition, but to a great 

 extent it is due to environment. A careful study of the prin- 

 cipal forms of G. cerina, under natural conditions, affords 

 a striking demonstration of the power of external conditions 

 to modify the organs of the vegetative system. The chief facts 

 may be briefly stated here. 



The form distinguished as suberecta is characterized by 

 slender suberect stems, rather distant and somewhat mem- 

 branous leaves, which are scarcely glossy, but are set off by a 

 vast profusion of attractive flowers. It is not easy to imagine 

 anything more beautiful than a mass of this fine plaiit with its 

 profuse red, purple, violet, or waxy-white flowers, the latter 

 not infrequently variegated with longitudinal red stripes or 



