326 Transactions. 



form distinct from the adult ; the former, though attaining great dimen- 

 sions, never flowering, and being chiefly a plant of the forest-floor ; but the 

 latter, as a liane, having gained a more advantageous position with regard 

 to the illumination, flowers abundantly. Here, then, the hygrophytic form 

 is the non-flowering, thus resembling R. Barkeri. In the case of Ruhus 

 cissoides, var. pauperatus, the opposite occurs. This plant, when growing 

 as a shrub in the open, its leaves reduced to midribs, rarely, or probably 

 never, flowers ; but where sheltered, or when a liane in the forest, its leafy 

 shoots blossom abundantly. That the leafy and leafless forms of this 

 species are one and the same my culture experiments have fully proved.* 

 Ruhus suhpauperatus, which has an identical groAvth-form with the xero- 

 phytic form of the last-named species, and grows in its company, flowers 

 more or less freely. From the above examples it may be seen that there is 

 no general rule as to the causes favouring flowering, or the contrary, in the 

 New Zealand Ruhi. 



Rubus Barkeri, sp. nov. 



Fruticulus prostratus ramossissimus, ramis inermibus v. paulum aculeatis 

 gracilibus elongatis radicantibus, foliis 3- raro 1-foliatis circ. 14 cm. longis, 

 folioUs lanceolatis circ. 3-8 cm. longis basi truncatis v. inaequalibus serratis 

 membranaceis, petiolis costisque parce aculeatis pilosisque. 



South Island: Westland- — near Lake Brunner, on the forest -floor: 

 S. D. Barker ! 



The species is closely allied to Ruhus parvus, Buch., but differs in the 

 trifoUate leaves with lanceolate leaflets and not simple linear leaves, serrate 

 rather than dentate leaf-margins, non-blooming habit, and gxeater size in all 

 its parts. 



The terminal leaflet is the largest, measuring about 7-6 cm. by 2-8 cni.y 

 the size of the smaller lateral ones being about 6 cm. by 2-1 cm. The leaves 

 are pale green on the undersurface, but above vary much in colour according 

 to the season of the year and the exposure to light. This is most marked 

 in autumn and winter, when the colom- is bronzy with a lustrous sheen, or 

 various shades of purple. Even in summer the coloration of the upper 

 surface is striking. Where the light is dim the leaves remain green. 



This beautiful leaf-coloration, the habit of the plant, and the ease with 

 which it can be cultivated, make Barker's Ruhus a quite important decora- 

 tive plant, especially for rock-gardens, where in the future it will doubtless 

 become a universal favourite. 



Ruhus parvus exhibits a similar coloration, but to a much lesser degree. 



* Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xxxiii, p. 293, 1900. 



