Cheeseman. — New Species of Flowering-plants. 423 



Art. XLV. — New Species of Flowering-plants. 



By T. F. Cheeseman, F.L.S., F.Z.S., F.N.Z.Inst., Curator of the Auckland 



Museum. 



[Read before the Auckland Institute, 15th December, 1920 ; received by Editor, 31st 

 December, 1920 ; issued separately, 12th August, 1921.] 



1. Agrostis pallescens Cheesm. n. sp. 



Affinis A. subulatae Hook. f. (A. Muelleri Benth.) sed tenuior, culmis 

 3-nodis, nodo superiore supra culmj medium disposito, spiculis stramineis. 



Annual, densely tufted and often forming a close sward, pale straw- 

 coloured. Culms 3-6 in. high, slender, smooth, erect, 3-noded, the uppermost 

 node high up the culm. Leaves numerous at the base of the culms and 

 shorter than them, very narrow, almost filiform, smooth or very minutely 

 scabrid, erect or somewhat spreading ; sheaths long, deeply grooved ; 

 ligules thin, scarious. Panicle narrow, but not so much so as in A. subulata, 

 lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, J— 1 in. long, straw-coloured ; branches in 

 fascicles of 2-4, unequal in length, somewhat spreading, finely scabrid. 

 Spikelets j^-^in. long. Two outer glumes slightly unequal, oblong- 

 lanceolate, subacute, membranous, scabrid on the keel; margins thin; 

 third or flowering glume about J shorter, thin and membranous, hyaline, 

 truncate, faintly 5-nerved ; awn wanting. Palea not developed. Grain 

 oblong. — A. Muelleri var. paludosa Hack, in Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906), 

 864. 



Flab. — South Island: Swamps near the Broken River; T. Kirk! 

 Swamps in the Tasman Valley, not uncommon ; T. F. C. 1.500-2,500 ft. 



Near to A. subulata, but amply distinct in its 3-noded culms, the upper 

 node of which is sometimes situated quite f of the way up the culm, in the 

 straw-coloured spikelets, and in the broader and more open panicles. In 

 A. subulata the culms are seldom more than 1-noded, the node being placed 

 near the base of the culm, the panicles are narrow and spike-like, and 

 usually purplish in colour. In addition to tbe above, A. subulata is always 

 limited to the steep rocky slopes of high mountains, and never occurs in 

 swamps. 



2. Atropis chathamica Cheesem. n. sp. 



Affinis A. Walkeri Cheesem. a qua differt culmis multo robustioribus 

 et laxe caespitosis, paniculis longioribus, spiculis 4-6 floribus. 



Tall, stout, loosely tufted, perfectly smooth and glabrous, 9-18 in. high. 

 Culms erect or decumbent at the base, 4-noded, the upper node placed above 

 the middle ; innovation shoots intravaginal. Leaves numerous, those at the 

 base short and scale-like, membranous, without any lamina ; cauline leaves 

 sheathing the whole culm and the greater part of the panicle, perfectly 

 smooth and glabrous, pale whitish-green, folded, grooved, tip cartilaginous, 

 subobtuse ; sheaths very large and broad, longer than the blades, split to 



