50 Papers. 



PAPERS 



1. Descriptions of some New Species of New Zealand Plants. 



By L. Cockayne, Ph.D., F.L.S. 



\_Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 6th September, 1911.} 



1. Nertera Balfouriana Cockayne sp. nov. 



Herba perennis, glabra. Caulis repens, gracilis, ramosus, radicans.- 

 Folia late oblonga v. subrotundata, 2'5— 3 mm. longa, 2-2'."> mm. Lata, 

 petiolata, basi rotund at a v. cuneata ; petiolus dire. 2"5 mm. longus, supra 

 canaliculatus. Flores non visi. Drupa piriformis, 7-9 nun. lotiga, 

 aurantiaca. 



South Island: Canterbury — Rakaia, Ashburton, and Rangitata 

 Valleys, at altitude of about 600-800 m., R. M. Laing and L. C. ; Wai- 

 makariri Valley, at about same altitude, L. C. ; neighbourhood of Mount 

 Cook, D. Petrie. Grows in Sphagnum bogs. 



N. Balfouriana is at once distinguished from all the other New Zen- 

 land species by its large pyriform orange-coloured drupes, which are 

 produced in such profusion as to quite hide the leaves. The plant forms 

 close patches on Sphagnum cushions, the stems and leaves being fre- 

 quently hidden amongst the moss. When in full fruit it is a beautiful 

 object, and should be a rival of N. depressa Banks and Sol. as a plant 

 for rock-gardens. The fruits are ripe during March and April. 



The plant is named in honour of Professor I. Bayley Balfour, F.R.S., 

 who, as Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, lias 

 done much to make known the horticultural capabilities of the ,Xew 

 Zealand alpine flora. 



2. Veronica BoUonsii Cockayne sp. nov. 



Frutex erectus, glaberrimus, circ. 1*5 m. altus, multiramosus ramis 

 teretibus. Folia obovato-oblonga, glabra, lucida, 2-6 cm. longa, 

 1-3 cm. lata. Racemi folia superantes, 10"5 cm. longi, vix densiflori, 

 rhachibus pedicellisque brevissime pubescentibns ; pedicelli 3 mm. 

 longi. Flores palide lilacini. Calyx profunde 4-partitus, corollae 

 tubum fere aequans, 3-3' 2 mm. longus; lobi anguste lanceolati, acuti, 

 ciliolati. Corollae tubus 3-4 mm. longus, fauce pubescens ; lobi ovati. 

 obtusi vel subacuti, 4 mm. longi. Capsula ovata, acuta 41 mm. longa. 



North Island : Auckland— The Poor Knights Islands, L. C. Blooms 

 in cultivation in the neighbourhood of Christchurch in April and later. 

 but the same autumn-blooming plant may flower again in the succeeding 

 summer. 



In Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 38, p. 354, I referred, but with some 

 measure of doubt, this plant to V. macroura Hook, f., for my material, 

 with only fragmentary racemes many months old, was insufficient for 

 accurate determination. Since that time, plants that I raised from 

 cuttings have bloomed both in the garden of Mr. Lough, Linwood, and 

 at Canterbury College, and have proved that the plant is a species 

 quite distinct from any other in New Zealand. It is at once separated 

 from V. macroura Hook. f. by the erect habit, glossy somewhat dark- 

 green glabrous leaves with a" subapiculate apex, much larger flowers 



