L. Cockayne. — Notes on New Zealand Floristic BoMny , 193 



Art. XXI. — 'Notes on New Zealand Floristic Botany, including Descriptions 



of Neiv Species, &c. (No. 1). 



By L. Cockayne, PIl.D., F.L.S., F.E.S., Hutton and Hector Memorial 



Medallist. 



[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 27th October, 1915.] 



1. Acaena novae-zelandiae T. Kirk var. pallida T. Kirk 



This variety is dismissed by Cheesemaii (Manual, p. 131) with the brief 

 words, " Mr. Kirk distinguishes a var. pallida, with paler foliage and. the 

 spines often greenish." Kirk himself (" Students' Flora," p. 134) gives 

 more details, stating that it " differs widely from the type in appearance," 

 but he does not emphasize sufficiently the distinctions of this exceedingly 

 striking plant, which some perhaps may prefer to recognize as a valid 

 species. 



The plant in question grows abundantly on the dunes at Lyall Bay, 

 Wellington, where it forms broad mats on the sand, a square metre or more 

 in area, or straggles over the bushes of Co2)rosma acerosa. It is almost a 

 true sand-binding plant in behaviour, its stems greatly lengthening when 

 buried. But, even without any sand-advance to speak of, they frequently 

 attain a length of more than 1 m. The older portions of the stem are 

 strongly woody, and extremely stout, often reaching a diameter of more 

 than 10 mm. Even towards the extremity, where, perfectly straight, the 

 stem, unrooted, creeps over the sand with a length of about 50 cm., its 

 diameter is 2-3 mm. The older part of the stem is covered with a fairly 

 thick, cracked, dark-brown bark, tinged with red, while the youngest 

 part is gTeen and strongly hirsute. The leaves are much larger than those 

 of any other variety of A. novae-zelandiae, and may measure as much as 

 11 cm. in length, but about 7-5 cm. is quite a common size. The leaflets 

 are considerably larger than those of A. novae-zelandiae in general (2-1 cm. 

 by 10 mm for the uppermost pair), and differ likewise in their much paler, 

 . distinctly glossy yellowish-green, wrinkled upper surface, far paler less 

 glaucous under surface, and thicker substance. The peduncles are extremely 

 stout, stiff, and upright, and frequently measure 15 cm. in length, or twice 

 as much as is common in any other variety of the species. The heads, 

 with the spines, are commonly more than 4 cm. in diameter. The spines 

 are bright pinkish-purple in colour, and never dark purple ; but it is 

 extremely rare to see them of a green colour, as described by Kirk and 

 Cheeseman, though they are often quite pale near the base. The plant 

 does not owe its distinctive characters to its special environment, for when 

 growing upon a clay bank it can be recognized at once from neighbouring 

 plants of more widely spread forms of A. novae-zelandiae. 



2. Acaena Sanguisorbae Vahl. var. viridior Cockayne var. nov. 



Folia supra viridia, nunquam nonnihil olivacei-fuscentia ; calycis-lobi 

 aculeique pallide virides. 



North and South Islands : Probably fairly common. I have already 

 had specimens from Wellington, the neighbourhood of the Marlborough 

 Sounds, Taranaki and Banks Peninsula. 



7— Trans. 



