Cockayne. — Development of Seedlings. 369 



spread, extremely local and limited in its distribution, and is 

 confined to most inhospitable situations on the mountains at 

 an altitude of from 690 m. to 1,200 m. Wild seedlings are 

 unknown to science, and, although such doubtless exist, their 

 quantity must be small, and young plants also are very scarce. 

 The plant, however, adapts itself very readily to cultivation, 

 and, as stated above, quickly responds to change of environ- 

 ment by developing leafy cladodes, which must assist its 

 growth very considerably. It seems possible from a con- 

 sideration of these facts that the wild plant was once much 

 more common, and that it is now dying out. Also, that if 

 not an ancient type in the sense that it has existed from a 

 remote geological time, still it may very well be the survivor 

 of a race whose prime dates back for a very considerable 

 period, and whose days are now numbered. (For microscopic 

 drawing of stem, see Diels, page 266, fig. 4c.) The hairs 

 simply covering the stem, often somewhat sparsely in the 

 young plant, and afterwards being confined to the furrows in 

 %vhich lie the stomata, is very interesting. 



Carmichselia odorata, Col. Plate XXXIL, fig. 24. 



Seed from garden of Dr. E. G. Levinge, Sunnyside ; the 

 plant said to have been originally brought from the Hawke's 

 Bay District. Germinated in about four weeks. Tallest 

 plant examined, 2-5 cm. long, and with three leaves. 



Description of Seedling. 



Eoot white, straight, deeply descending, with few lateral 

 rootlets. 



Hypocotyle mostly subterranean, 7mm. long; subter- 

 ranean portion fleshy and white, thicker than the green short 

 aerial portion. 



Cotyledons oblong, obtuse, fleshy, dotted with numerous 

 white scales, light-green, tapering into the very short broad 

 connate petioles. 



Stem terete, grooved and ridged ; ridges narrow, glabrous, 

 translucent ; grooves even, dotted with scales similar to those 

 on cotyledons ; internodes flexuose, in tallest seedling 1st is 

 5 mm. and 2nd is 4 mm. long. 



Leaves distichous, bright light -green, almost glabrous, 

 except for scales as on cotyledons, stipulate with triangular 

 sometimes lacerate hairy stipules ; petioles long, semi-terete, 

 channelled above, articulated at base. 



1st leaf: Lamina 7-5 mm. x 6 mm., entire, oval or sub- 

 rotund, emarginate, green above, much paler beneath ; 

 midrib sHghtly sunken on upper raised on under surface ; 

 petiole 6 mm. long. 



2nd leaf ternate (10 mm. long) or imparipinnate (1-3 cm. 



24: 



