214 Transactions. 



subcoriaceous, flat, margins edged with a line of short and dense white 

 hairs, midrib above occasionally downy. Eacemes longer than the leaves, 

 1^2 J in. long, straight or curved, dense-flowered, but not so much so as 

 in F. macroura ; rhachis and pedicels densely pubescent. Flowers ^ in. 

 diam., pale bluish-white. Calyx 4-partite ; segments oblong to ovate- 

 oblong, obtuse or subacute, margins conspicuously ciliate with soft whitish 

 hairs. Corolla-tube exceeding the calyx ; limb 4-lobed. Capsule i in. 

 long, ovate, compressed, not twice as long as the calyx. 



In the Manual I treated this as a variety of F. macroura. Since then 

 I have obtained a much better series of typical F. macroura, mainly collected 

 in the East Cape district by Bishop Williams, and find that the two plants 

 are amply distinct. F. obtusata is much smaller, and has a much more 

 diffuse mode of growth ; the leaves are smaller, broader, and more obtuse, 

 and the margins have a dense edging of short white hairs. The racemes 

 are smaller and shorter in proportion ; the flowers are not so dense and 

 slightly larger ; and the calyx-segments have their margins conspicuously 

 ciliate with white hairs. It is probably nearer to my F. divergens, but that 

 species has smaller and narrower glabrous leaves, longer racemes, and more 

 glabrous calyx-segments. 



With respect to F. macroura, I have been informed by Mr. N. E. Brown, 

 of the Kew Herbarium, that the localities of " Whangarei and Cook Strait," 

 given by Hooker in the Handbook, were probably cpoted from Colenso's 

 correspondence, as there are no specimens from thence in the Kew 

 Herbarium. Mr. Brown further states that the only locality given on the 

 type-sheet of F. macroura is " East Cape," written against a specimen 

 (Colenso, 101) by Sir J. D. Hooker. So far as I am aware, no one has 

 gathered typical F. macroura at either Whangarei or Cook Strait of late 

 years. 



7. Thelymitra pauciflora R. Br., Prodr. 314 ; Fitzgerald, " Australian 

 Orchids,'" vol. 1, part 6, t. 2. 



Stems slender, wiry, flexuous, 6-12 in. high, rarely more. Leaf much 

 shorter than the stem, narrow-linear, -^q-^ in. broad, rarely more, thick and 

 fleshy, longitudinally grooved, deeply channelled in front, and thus concave. 

 Flowers 1-6, J in. long, usually pale-blue or whitish-blue. Sepals and 

 petals narrow ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute. Column short, stout, the 

 wing continued behind the anther and longer than it, 3-lobed ; the middle 

 lobe much the largest and also the highest, narrower than in T. longi-folia, 

 thick and swollen, projecting over the anther, deeply emarginate or 2-lobed, 

 brownish-red at the base, bright yellow towards the tip ; lateral lobes 

 smaller at the base, projecting forwards almost horizontally, then suddenly 

 bent upwards and erect, terminated by a dense brush of white cilia. 

 Anther broad, connective produced into a short point. 



Hah. — North Island : Lepfosj)erm2(m-clad hills in the Auckland dis- 

 trict, T. F. C. ; hills near Pukekohe, W. Townson ! vicinity of Kaitaia 

 (Mongonui County), H. B. Mattheivs ! Probably widely distributed in the 

 Auckland Provincial District. Flowers from the middle of October to 

 mid-November. 



I have been acquainted with this for many years, and have been 

 accustomed to regard it as a variety of T. longifolia, to which species Mr. 

 Bentham reduced Brown's T. pauciflora. But the structure of the column 

 is very different from that of T. longifolia, and as long as the species of the 



