186 ON A NEW SPECIES OF NEPENTHES, 



obtained for them the name of '^ Pitcher plants." The organ 

 itself has given rise to some controversy among botanists as to 

 which part of the plant was the leaf and which the petiole or 

 footstalk. The recent investigations of Hooker have shown that 

 the pitcher is a modification of a gland at the termination of the 

 midrib. About twenty species are known, some of which have 

 the pitchers of large size, and some have pitchers of two kinds. 

 The only Australian species hitherto known is iV. Kennedyi, 

 described by Baron v. Mueller in the fifth volume of the ^Fragmenta 

 Phytographicd,^ and he says it is distinguished from all the other 

 species known to him by the peculiar venation which give the 

 leaves a tesselated character. This peculiarity is shared by the 

 sjDecies I now describe. Mr. Bentham is doubtful as to whether 

 N. Kennedyi is more than a variety of the widely-spread N. 

 phyllampliora, from which it differs in the much more slender 

 peristome of the pitcher. It is found in the extreme north of the 

 Cape York peninsula, whence specimens have been brought 

 down, and are now growing luxuriantly in the gardens of the 

 Queensland Acclimatization Society, Bowen Park, Brisbane. 

 My attention was drawn a few days ago by Mr. Bernays, the 

 President of the Society, to some luxuriant specimens which he 

 thought differed from the ordinary species N. Kennedyi. On 

 examining these plants I found them to consist of two evidently 

 distinct species, one of which appears to me to be new. I have 

 therefore distinguished it with the specific name of Bernaysii on 

 account of the great interest taken by that gentleman in every- 

 thing relating to the botany of Queensland. I forward herewith 

 a leaf bearing ascidium or pitcher that the members may have 

 an opportunity of comparing the two species. The flowers and 

 fruits of both are unknown as yet, but from the appearance of 

 the Bowen Park plants we may hope before very long to see 

 them fruiting side by side. The following is the diagnosis. 



Stems procumlent, clothed ivith the clasping lases of the petioles. 

 Leaves alternate, almost crowded, linear-lanceolate, with the short 



