Cockayne. — Development of Seedlings. 291 



juvenile type. In several places, even at a height of 10 cm. 

 above the soil, adventitious roots have been developed, the 

 longest of which is 13 mm. ; but in every case as yet such 

 have after a time withered at the apex, and in no instance 

 have reached the soil. 



I have never seen V. armstrongii in the wild state ; it is 

 probably a rare and local plant, occurring in the southern por- 

 tions of the Canterbury Alps. Mr. T. Kirk's record of its 

 occurrence in Nelson, Westland, and Otago :;: requires con- 

 firmation. The common whipcord Veronica of northern Can- 

 terbury and of southern Nelson is V. lycopodioides. f As to the 

 Westland habitat, it is improbable that there are any Veronicas 

 of the above-named type in that region. In my garden our 

 plant still keeps its xerophytic structure, nor while growing 

 in the open air has any part ever reverted to the seedling 

 form. It also flowers freely year by year, and differs little, 

 I should imagine, from the typical alpine form. 



No. 844. Rubus cissoides, A. Cunn., var. pauperatus, 

 T. Kirk. Plate XII., figs. 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45. 



The seed was collected by Mr. F. Anson at Piraki, Banks 

 Peninsula, from a plant growing as a liane just outside the 

 forest. This plant was leafy in its upper part, but almost 

 leafless elsewhere. Sown on the 1st September, 1899, one 

 seed germinated on the 20th November, 1899, two more 

 plants appeared by the end of the same month, while a fourth 

 seed did not germinate until the 20th August, 1900 — i.e., till 

 nearly a year from the date of sowing. So far as observed 

 the seedlings grow at first with considerable rapidity. By 

 the 2nd December, 1899, the oldest seedling was 10 mm. tall, 

 with the 1st foliage leaf in process of development but not 

 unfolded. By the 19th June, 1900, its height was 15 cm., 

 and there were six leaves fully developed, while by the 1st 

 November, 1900, there were nine leaves almost fully developed, 

 and it had increased 6 mm. in height. It will be noted that 

 the stem-growth is very slow, its length at this point being 

 exceeded by that of several of the petioles. 



Description of Seedling. 



Primary root (in plant with 1st leaf at an early stage of 

 development) 14 mm. long, white, fleshy, stout, with very few 

 lateral rootlets. 



* I.e., p. 521. 



I I am referring to the plant usually so named by botanists in New 

 Zealand ; whether it be Hooker's species is another matter. The plant 

 in question is especially abundant on some parts of Peverd Peak, Canter- 

 bury, where it forms quite a large proportion of the subalpine scrub. 



