246 Transactions. — Botany. 



4. P. rotundifolia, sp. nov. 



Plant densely caaspitose, sub-dendroid, erect, 1 inch high, 

 dark olive-green, the young leaves at tips light-green ; stem 

 bare at base, forked, loosely branched above in 4-5 branchlets ; 

 tips recurved, drooping. Leaves small, close, imbricate, spread- 

 ing, rotund, j^-th inch diameter, undulate, slightly decurrent, 

 sub-amplexicaul, the portion adhering to stem being very small, 

 margins minutely and regularly waved and finely serrulate 

 (sub lente) ; dorsal margin recurved, entire near stem. Cells 

 minute, orbicular, with thickened walls and very minute cellules 

 in them, larger and oblong at base of leaf. 



Hab. Among small herbage, shaded woods, base of Mount 

 Tongariro, County of East Taupo ; 1887 : Mr. H. Hill. 



§ II. Stems erect from a creeping rhizome, tall, much 

 branched, dendroid. 



5. P. trispicata, sp. nov. 



Khizome creeping, matted ; plant densely caespitose ; den- 

 droid, erect, 4-4^ inches high, main stem 14— 2 inches long, 

 leafy from base, 3 lines wide, much branched at top ; branches 

 1^-2 inches long, 2-2-J- lines broad, spreading, erect, dichotomous, 

 branches and leaves fiat. Leaves yellowish-green tinged with 

 brown, alternate, imbricate ; those on the main branches broadly 

 sub-deltoid, 2 lines long (smaller on the branchlets) ; ventral 

 margin curved, laciniate-toothed, the bases round and much 

 produced, largely cilio-laciniate and overlapping ; dorsal margin 

 straight, nearly entire or with 1-2 small teeth, and set very 

 obliquely on stem ; apices truncate with 3-5 large irregular sub- 

 laciniate teeth. Involucral leaves much the same, but erect, 

 with their dorsal margin more ciliated. Cells broadly oval, 

 distinct, filled with minute pellucid cellules. Perianth terminal 

 on short lateral branchlets, sessile, compressed, whitish, 24. lines 

 long, ovate, dimidiate, obtuse ; mouth sub-urceolate ; lips and 

 apex largely laciniate-ciliate ; lacinire bifid, acute, sub-fiexuous, 

 spreading, cellular. Male plant smaller and less robust ; spikes 

 terminal at tips of branches, mostly 3 (sometimes 2, 4,) together, 

 shortly peduncled, 2 lines long, divergent, sub-triangular, acute, 

 deeply channelled on one side ; scales in 2 rows, large ; tips 

 recurved, the lower nearly entire, the upper shortly bidentate. 



IJab. On trees and logs, damp woods near Danneverke. 

 County of Waipawa ; 1887: W.C. 



Obs. A rather peculiar species from the shape of its perianth, 

 and also from its conspicuous and divergent 3 male spikes. 



6. /'. axillaris, sp. nov. 



Plant closely casspitose, pale green ; rhizome wiry, creeping, 

 much entangled, tough. Stems erect, leafy from base, 2-3 



