04 Transactions. 



The chief variations which have been taken into account in my classi- 

 fication of the varieties of Phormium are, — 



Vegetative Characters. 



I. Habit. — The plant may be quite erect, slightly drooping, or veiy 

 drooping. The fans may be closely set together or wide apart, and the 

 leaves of each fan again may be close together or loosely arranged. 



II. The leaves may be rigid or quite flaccid. (It must be noted here 

 that even if the leaves are drooping they are not necessarily flaccid. One 

 variety, No. 9 of my list, for instance, has firm leaves, with abundant and 

 strong fibre, and yet the leaves are drooping.) They may be dark, bright, 

 pale, or yellow green. 



(a.) The butt varies in length and in stoutness. There may be little 

 or much Ct gum," and the inner surface may be white, pink, or deep orange. 



(b.) The blade varies in length, width, thickness, and colour, and its 

 inferior surface in amount of bloom. 



(1.) Its apex may be entire, split into two along the midrib, or split 

 into several ribbons. It may be obtuse, acute, or acuminate (tapering 

 gradually to a point). It may be of the same colour as the rest of the blade, 

 or coloured similarly to the margins. It may be rigid or quite soft, and 

 may be curved inwards, straight, or curved outwards. 



(2.) The keel varies in thickness and in colour. 



(3.) The margins vary in thickness and in colour, the usual colours being 

 bright orange, red. maroon, brown, and black. The margins only may be 

 coloured, or the colour may " run in " on the upper surface, sometimes 

 to a depth of some millimetres. 



Floristic Characters. 



III. Time of Flowering .• — There is a great difference in the time of 

 flowering of the varieties, and this appears to be constant for each variety 

 in any one locality. 



IV. Inflorescences. These vary in number, colour, height, stoutness. 

 They may be erect, slightly inclined, or inclined at various wide angles. 

 The bracts vary in size and colour. The secondary and tertiary branches 

 vary in length. The tip of the inflorescence may be straight or bent over. 



V. The flowers vary in number, size, colour, and shape. 



VI. The capsules vary perhaps more than any other part of the plant. 

 They may be stout or' slender, straight, slightly twisted, or very much 

 twisted. It must be noted here that not only the pendulous capsules are 

 twisted, but many which are quite erect have a decided twist. 



Classification. 



As I have stated above, I have retained the two specific names — P. 

 tenax and P. CooManum. P. tenax I have divided into five groups, which 

 are again subdivided into a number of varieties which I have simply num- 

 bered, since names might cause confusion. There are twenty-five of these 

 varieties included in P. tenax. Then follow five varieties which are con- 

 sidered as forms intermediate between the two species, and finally eight 

 varieties of P. CooManum which are included in one group. 



The larger groups have been classified mainly according to habit, while 

 varieties are distinguished mainly by floristic characters, though vegetative 

 characters have not been neglected. 



