4 Transactions. 



forms, &c, may include even more than one Linnean species, as appears 

 to be the case with Pittosporum rigidum Hook, f., as defined by Hooker, 

 Kirk, and Cheeseman. Plate I shows this case clearly, where the type 

 of P. rigidum on the right differs most markedly from the common South 

 Island form on the left, which I am naming P. divaricatum* 



In some cases the difficulty as to distinguishing-names is met by the 

 " creation " of " varieties " ; but these, again, are of quite different values, 

 and may belong to distinct biological categories. A few examples taken 

 from the " Manual of the New Zealand Flora ' : (Cheeseman, 1906) will 

 explain my meaning. 



1. Hoheria populnea A. Cunn. (p. 78) is divided into the three varieties- — 

 (a) vulgaris Hook, f., (b) lanceolata Hook, f., and (c) angustifolia Hook. f. 

 There is no such plant in existence as H. populnea, for the description 

 includes the three varieties (a), (b), and (c), each of which, however, is 

 distinguished by a special diagnosis, the varieties (a), (b), and (c) respectively 

 representing distinct groups of individuals which reproduce themselves 

 true from seed. 



2. Carmichaelia Enysii T. Kirk has a variety orbiculata T. Kirk (p. 111). 

 Both the species and its variety are described. But in this case the specific 

 description refers to one set of individuals possessing certain characters, 

 which is C. Enysii proper, and does not include var. orbiculata, which is to 

 be recognized through its having other characters absent in C. Enysii proper, 

 which latter may then be termed the type. 



3. Epilobium junceum Sol. has vars. cinereum Hausskn., hirtigerum 

 Hook, f., and macrophyllum Hausskn., each of which is defined at consider- 

 able length (p. 175). But none of these names represents a biological entity. 

 for E. junceum, to quote from Cheeseman, " is an extremely variable 

 plant, the numerous forms of which may be grouped in the three following 

 varieties " — i.e., as above. Further he writes, " The extreme states of the 

 above varieties have a very distinct appearance, and might have been 

 treated as species were they not connected by numerous intermediate forms, 

 which make it quite impossible to draw strict lines of demarcation between 

 them." Here, then, the description of the species does not indicate a type, 

 but it includes the three varieties and all the intermediate forms, while the 

 varieties themselves are likewise not distinct entities,! and belong to a 

 different biological category to the var. orbiculata of C. Enysii. 



4. Gaultheria rupestris R. Br. (p. 407) is a similar example to the last, 

 being said to be " a highly variable plant, the numerous forms of which 

 are best arranged under two heads " —namely, var. lanceolata Cheesem. 

 and var. parvi folia Cheesem. 



5. In certain other cases, where there are a host of intergrading forms, 

 the most divergent are treated as separate species notwithstanding that they 

 are connected by intermediates. An example of this is Veronica, pinguifolia 

 Hook. f. and V. Buchanani Hook, f., of which latter species Cheeseman 

 writes (p. 527), " Larger forms approach V. pinguifolia so closely that 

 it is difficult to draw a line of demarcation between the two species. 

 My var. major might be referred to either." Other examples of similar 



* It seems possible also that P. divaricatum consists of two elementary species, found 

 in the steppe and forest climates of the South Island respectively. See Plate VIII, and 

 compare it with the figure in Diels (1906). 



f Biologically some are certainly distinct entities, as, e.g., the variety macrophyllum, 

 which Petrie has " made " into a species under the name E. erectum, and which is greatly 

 on the increases where forest is being removed in the Waimarino locality. 



