42 Transactions. 



Manual I included this in the circumscription of A. Monroi, as stated 

 in the footnote to the description, but further study has satisfied me of 

 its distinctness, and it is described in this paper under the name of 

 A. similis. 



In the Mount Cook district I have collected another allied plant 

 which differs from the typical form of A. Monroi in the larger size, 

 stouter habit, and in the leaves being more profusely bipinnate, and 

 consequently with more numerous segments, which are rather broader 

 and more coriaceous. Mr. Hemsley considers that it is " specifically 

 different from the original on which the species was founded," but for 

 the present I prefer to treat it as a variety only. It may be briefly 

 characterized as follows : — 



A. Monroi Hook. f. var. divisa Cheesem. 



Caule robusto, foliis majoribus profuse bipinnatis, segmentis latioribus 

 magis coriaceis. 



Rah. — South Island : Mount Cook district, not uncommon in open 

 grassy places, alt. 4,000-6,000 ft. ; T. F. C. Mr. Hemsley informs me 

 that there are specimens in the Kew Herbarium from other localities in 

 the Southern Alps. 



A. similis Cheesem. n. .sp. 



A. Monroi Hook. f. affinis, sed differt caule valido, foliis pinnatis nun- 

 quani bipinnatis, segmentis planis latioribus. 



Herba glaberrima, 15-35 cm. alta, radice crassa. Folia radicalia 10-20, 

 7-25 cm. longa, regulariter pinnata, nunquam bipinnata ; pinnis 4-10- 

 jugis, 2-5-7-5 cm. longis, 2-3 mm. latis, planis, rigidis, anguste linearibus, 

 aculeato-acuminatis, apice pungentibus. Caulis aut pedunculus validus, 

 erectus, foliis multo longior. Umbellae compositae, in paniculam latam 

 dispositae ; bracteis late vaginantibus. Flores albi. Fructus 3 mm. 

 longus, lineari-oblongus. 



Hab. — South Island : Peaty bogs on Arthur's Pass, Canterbury Alps, 

 alt. 3,000-4,000 ft. ; also near *the Waimakariri Glacier ; T. F. C. ' Upper 

 Rakaia Valley ; J. I). Enys ! 



Rather stout, smooth, simple, 6-15 in. high. Leaves 10-20, outer 

 spreading, inner suberect, 3-10 in. long, regularly pinnate, never bipinnate 

 at the base ; leaflets 4-10 pairs, 1-3 in. long, ^—^ in. broad, narrow- 

 linear, rigid, flat, striate, narrowed at the apex into a short pungent 

 point ; midrib usually evident ; margins thickened and cartilaginous ; 

 sheaths smooth, flattened, furnished at the top with a rigid spine on each 

 side |-1 in. long. Peduncle or flowering-stem considerably exceeding the 

 leaves, rather stout. Male inflorescence of numerous compound umbels 

 forming an open panicle, 2-5 in. long ; bracts with broad sheathing -bases 

 tipped with a small pinnate leaf. Rays of the primary umbels 8-15, 

 J— | in. long ; of the secondary umbels about the same number. Flowers 

 white. Fruit about \ in. long, linear-oblong. Carpels 3-5-winged. 



This is one of the plants that have been confused with A. Monroi. But 

 it differs from Monro's original plant, which, through the kindness of the 

 authorities of Kew, I have been enabled to figure in the recently issued 

 " Illustrations of the New Zealand Flora " (t. 63), in the leaves never being 

 bipinnate, which they usually are in A. Monroi ; in the leaflets being longer 

 and broader and flatter, and spreading in one plane, and also in being 



