Cheeseman. — Recent Additions to Flora of Kew Zealand. 217 



loiigi, 5-10 mm. diam. Folia ut in i?. hryoidei, sed multo majora, 5 mm. 

 longa. Capitula terminales, sessilia, solitaria, 6-8 mm. diam. ; involucri 

 bracteee 3-4-seriat8e, exteriores scariosfe, interiores apice albidse. Flores 

 numerosi, 12-20 feminei, 12-20 Lermaphroditi. Achenia ut in R. hryoidei. 



Hah.- — South Island : Dun Mountain Range, Nelson, on Mount Starveall 

 and Slaty Peak ; altitude, 4,000-5,000 ft. ; F. G. Gibhs ! 



Forms small patches 6-9 in. diameter, much more laxly branched than 

 is usual in the genus. Branches stout, erect or suberect, 2-5 in. long, 

 with the leaves on |— |- in. diameter, not forming a hard compact mass as in 

 R. hryoides. Leaves very closely imbricated, erecto-patent, ^-^ in. long, 

 obovate-spathulate or rlaomboid-spathulate, obtuse or subacute, upper 

 half triangular, coriaceous, clothed on both surfaces with densely felted 

 woolly hairs, which, as in R. hryoides, do not conceal the shape of the leaf ; 

 basal half membranous, upper surface glabrate or nearly so, lower surface 

 slightly silky ; margins furnished right to the base with long cottony hairs. 

 Heads | in. diameter, solitary, terminal, sunk amongst the uppermost 

 leaves ; involucral bracts in 3-4 series, linear-oblong, scarious, acute, much 

 smaller in proportion to the size of the head than in R. hryoides, and the 

 imier ones with much less conspicuous white tips. Florets 20-40, the her- 

 maphrodite about equal in number to the females. Achenes with long 

 silky hairs and a conspicuous thickened areole. Pappus-hairs few, fragile, 

 thickened at the tips. 



Although tliis is technically closely allied to R. hryoides, in appearance 

 it differs widely from that plant. R. hryoides forms hard and compact 

 knobby masses in which the numerous branches are so closely packed that 

 it is impossible to thrust the finger in between. R. Gihhsii is comparatively 

 laxly branched, with longer, stouter, and more erect branches, and the 

 leaves are much larger. The heads are also larger, with double the number 

 of florets, and the scales of the involucre are proportionately smaller and 

 less numerous. 



Mr. Gibbs, who is the first to gather, this interesting species, informs 

 me that at a little distance it can be easily mistaken for a barren specimen 

 of Helichrysum grandicefs. 



3. Myosotis (Exarrhena) Astoni, Cheesem., h. sp. 



Species M. saxosce valde afiinis a quo differt ramis et foliis multo longio- 

 ribus, pilis laxioribus, floiibus numerosis. 



Perennis, midique pilis mollibus parce vestitus. Rami floiiferi graciles, 

 ascendentes vel basi decumbentes, 15-30 cm. alti. Folia radicalia nume- 

 rosa, 5-10 cm. longa, supra et infra pilis brevibus parce obsita ; folia 

 caulina minora, sessilia. Racemi terminales, pedunculati, simplices vel 

 furcati. Flores numerosi, breviter pedicellati. Corolla hypocrateriformis, 

 4-5 mm. diam. ; tubus cylindraceus, fauce gibbis emarginatis instructa. 

 Stamina 5, sub fauci afhxa ; filamentis elongatis. 



Hah. — North Island : Mount Holdsworth, Tararua Range ; altitude, 

 4,000-4,500 ft. ; W. Townson ! B. C. Aston ! 



Perennial, sparingly clothed with short soft hairs. Flowering-stems 

 several from the root, slender, decumbent below, erect or ascending above, 

 6-12 in. long. Radical leaves few or many, 2-4 in. long ; blade about half 

 the length, \-\ in. broad, linear-obovate to oblong-obovate or oblong- 

 spathulate, obtuse or subacute, thin and membranous, both surfaces 

 sparsely clothed with soft white hairs ; cauline much smaller, oblong or 

 linear-oblong, sessile, or the lower alone shortly petiolate. Racemes pedun- 



