210 Transactions. 



Art. XXIII. — Neiv Species of Plants. 



By T. F. Cheeseman, F.L.S., F.Z.S., Curator of the Auckland Museum. 



[Read before the Auckland Institute, Sth December, 1915.] 



1. Geum divergens Cheesem. n. sp. 



Species distincta G. unifloro Buch. similis, sed scapis 1-4-floris, bracteis 

 numerosis incisis, floribus flavis. 



Herba parvula, 4-10 cm. alta. Khizoma breve, crassum, procumbens. 

 Folia radicalia, lyrato-pimiata, 2-5 cm. longa ; foliolis lateralibus minutis, 

 terminali maximo orbiculari-cordato irregulariter dentato. Scapi 3-5-5 cm. 

 longi ; bracteis 2-5, liiieari-lanceolatis, incisis. Flores 1-5, ratione plantae 

 magni, 1 •5-2-5 cm. diani., flavi. Calycis segmenta ovato-lanceolata, acuta 

 vel acuminata. Petala magna, obovata, obtusa. Achenia dense villosa ; 

 stylis glabris, apice uncinatis. 



jjab. — South Island : Sheltered places among rocks on the slopes of 

 Mount Captain, Clarence Valley, alt. 5,000 ft., T. F. C. 



Short, stout, 2-5 in. high. Rhizome creeping, short, thick and woody, 

 clothed with the bases of the old leaves. Leaves all radical, 1-2 in. long 

 including the petiole, lyrate-pinnate ; terminal leaflet very large, |-ljin. 

 diam., orbicular reniform, indistinctly lobed, coarsely crenate-dentate ; 

 margins densely ciliate with long white hairs; upper surface sparsely 

 villous, lower almost glabrous ; lateral leaflets 2-i pairs, minute, lanceo- 

 late or ovate-lanceolate, ciliate. Scapes l|-3 in. high, slender, densely 

 pubescent ; bracts 2-5, the lowest sometimes f in. long, lanceolate, incised 

 or rarely inciso-pinnatifid. Flowers 1-5, large for the size of the plant, 

 f-l| in. diam., yellow. Calyx-lobes ovate-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, 

 sometimes with small accessory lobes at the base, pubescent. Petals much 

 larger, obovate, obtuse. Achenes villous with long hairs, gradually nar- 

 rowed into a long glabrous style hooked at the tip. 



Although this has something of the habit and appearance of G. uni- 

 fiorum, it is by no means closely allied to that plant. The rhizome is 

 shorter and not so stout ; the leaves are thinner, with a different indu- 

 mentum ; the scapes are furnished with more numerous and much larger 

 and more deeply incised bracts ; the flowers are more numerous, some- 

 times as many as 5 to a scape, and are bright yellow, whereas they are 

 solitary and always white in G. uniflorum. In size, in the shape of the 

 leaves, and in the colour of the flowers it appears to approach the some- 

 what vague description given by Buchanan of his G. alpinum (a name 

 already occupied). But he describes the flowers of his plant as " minute " 

 and " ^ in. diam.," a difference in size so great as to preclude the specific 

 identity of the two plants, whatever " G. alpinwn " may prove to be. 



2. Olearia insignis Hook. f. var. minor Cheesem. n. var. 



Differt a typo habitu multo graciliore, foliis minoribus et angustioribus, 

 pedunculis gracilioribus, capitulis minoribus. 



Hab.—South Island : Marlborough, between Kaikoura and Blenheim, 

 H. J. Matthews ! 



