238 THE JOURNAL OP BOTANY 



writer is aware, but there is reason to assume that the variety 

 existed on the Continent, for Carrifere opines that the plant 

 cultivated there as Cupressus thurifera was a Biota. Kent's 

 description (Veitch's Man. Conif. 230 (1900)), based upon speci- 

 mens received from La Mortola, apparently coincides with this 

 rare species ; but Mr. A. Berger, in a letter to Messrs. Henry & 

 Elwes, states that this plant has disappeared and that two plants 

 formerly cultivated under this name at La Mortola turned out to 

 be Cu2)ressus sevipervirens and C. Uisitanica var. BentJiami (C. 

 Benthami) respectively; similarly, seeds of C. thurifera distributed 

 in 1909 by the Dendrological Society of France differed in no 

 respect from those of C. lusitanica. Quite recently Mr. Clinton 

 Baker has received specimens from Mons. J. Daveau of the Jardin 

 des Plantes, Montpellier, under the name of Cnpressus thurifera, 

 which were collected in a cemetery of the State of Puebla, Mexico, 

 by J. Nicolas (No. 9776) in January, 1911, but which Dr. Henry 

 agreed with me must be assigned to Cupressiis (Biota) orientalis. 

 The latter specimens have therefore confirmed our suspicions as 

 to the cultivated nature of the species in that region. 



Two other cone-bearing specimens in the Lindley collection 

 labelled C. thurifera Schlecht., collected between Angauguco and 

 Italpuxahua and Banco, are referable to Ciipressus Uisitanica var. 

 Benthami. 



Callitris neo-caledonica, sp. nov. The vegetation of the 

 island of New Caledonia has been discussed by the French botanist 

 Brongniart, by Professor Engler, and latterly in an able manner 

 by Dr. E. Schlechter in Engler's Bot. Jahrbuch, xxxvi. (1905), 

 who bases his observations upon several months' sojourn in the 

 island. His sketch was subsequently followed by an enumeration 

 and description [op. cit. xxxix. 1906) of the plants collected, among 

 which many novelties occur; and the author lays special stress 

 upon the advisability of exploring the north-west corner of the 

 island, and the near-lying New Hebrides, regarding the flora of 

 which our knowledge is regrettably deficient. 



In view of the remarks which follow, it appears expedient to 

 allude to Schlechter's remarks respecting the Conifers wdiich 

 obtain on the island. These are invariably confined to upper 

 mountain-slopes between elevations of 1400-1500 metres above 

 sea-level, only one, Agathis ovata Warburg, apparently affecting 

 an altitudinal range from sea-level to 1300 metres, where, as 

 solitary specimens, it is particularly abundant in the Serpentine 

 Eegion. The Araucarias, of which A. Balanscs, A. montana, and 

 A. Muelleri are cited, are among the tallest of the Conifers, rarely 

 exceeding 35 ft. in height, and, being easily recognized by their 

 distinct pyramidal aspect, form, in contradistinction to the 

 remaining gymnospermous vegetation, small and nearly pure 

 strands, especially in the south of the island ; Dacrydium is repre- 

 sented by three species, D. Balanscs and the Yew-like and Arau- 

 caria-iike D. taxoides and D. araucarioides respectively, which 

 are scattered among woods of an Australian-Malayan element, 

 chiefly composed of various Myoporums, Cunonias, Spiraeanthema, 



