Cheeseman. — Nexv Species of Flowering-plants. 45 



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

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



* 



[Bead before the Auckland Institute, lfjth December, W14.] 



1. Ligusticum capillifolium Cheesem. n. sp. 



Species ad L. Haastii Hook. f. valde accedens, sed differt primo intuito 

 foliorum segmentis multo angustioribus. 



Herba perennis, erecta, undique glaberrima, 15-22 cm. alta ; radicibus 

 fasciculatis carnosis. Folia omnia radicalia, numerosa, 10-15 cm. longa, 

 2-5-5-0 cm. lata, lineari-oblonga, membranacea, 2-4-pinnatisecta ; seg- 

 mentis ultimis anguste linearibus vel filiformibus, 4-7 mm. longis, 1 mm. 

 latis, apicibus longe piliferis. Umbellae paucae, 1-4, compositae, 8-15- 

 radiatae ; bracteis bracteolisque lineari-subulatis. Flores albi. Fructus 

 ovoideo-oblongus, 4-5 mm. longus ; valleculae 1-2-vittatae, commissura 

 2-4-vittatae. 



Hab. — South. Island : Mountains of south-west Otago, alt. 3,000-5,500 ft. ; 

 mountains above Chalky Inlet, A. Reischek ! Mount Tyndall, D. Petrie ! 

 Mount Bonpland, H. J. Matthews ! slopes of Mount Balloon, McKinley's 

 Pass, F. G. Gibbs ! near Lake Harris, J. Speden ! 



Bright green, leafy, rather stout, 6-9 in. high. Roots long, stout, stringy. 

 Leaves numerous at the base of the stem, 4-6 in, long, 1-2 in. broad ; 

 petioles short, grooved, broadly sheathing at the base; blade linear-oblong 

 in outline, membranous, 2-4-pinnately divided, primary divisions or pinnae 

 8-12, the lower remote, the upper often overlapping, ^-1 in. long, deeply 

 and finely again divided ; ultimate segments about £ in. long, very narrow, 

 often under 4^ in. broad, terminating in a long flexuous hair-point. Cauline 

 leaves absent ; the flowering-stems not much exceeding the leaves. Umbels 

 few, 1-4, compound, in an open-branched panicle ; a broad sheathing-bract 

 tipped with a short finely divided lamina at the base of each division; 

 primary rays 8-15 ; involucral bracts linear-subulate, shorter than the rays. 

 Flowers white. Fruit ovoid-oblong, Jin. long. Carpels usually one 

 5-winged and the other 4-winged ; vittae 1-2 in the interspaces and 2-4 

 on the commissural face. 



I have been acquainted with this for many years, but have delayed 

 describing it until I could satisfy myself as to its distinctness from L. Haastii, 

 to which it is very close indeed. It is, however, a smaller plant, with a 

 flowering-stem not much exceeding the leaves ; the petioles are much shorter, 

 and the leaves much more finely cut, the ultimate segments being barely 

 half the width of those of L. Haastii, and furnished with a long flexuous 

 hair-point at the tip. Mr. Gibbs remarks that " pressed specimens badly 

 represent the growing plant, which closely resembles in appearance a 

 miniature Todea superba. The final leaflets are all turned at right angles to 

 the plane of the leaf, giving it a beautiful mossy appearance." The first 

 person to collect the plant appears to have been the late Mr. A. Reischek ; 

 out it has since been observed in so many stations that we may fairly 

 conclude that it is not uncommon on the higher mountains of south-west 

 Otago. 



