THREE CONIFERS 239 



Soulameas, Eugenias, and several Myrtles, &c. Podocmyiis 

 gnidioides remains dwarf, covers the ground, and in its prostrate 

 and creeping habit mimics Juniperus Sahina; of other Podocarps, 

 P. minor and P. usta, with broad spreading crowns, rarely exceed, 

 like the Dacrydia and species of Callitris, 25 ft. in height. The 

 latter are associated with the Podocarps and Dacrydia in the 

 upper woods of the southern region of the island, and in exceed- 

 ingly exposed situations remain dwarfed and shrubby. Libocedrus 

 austro-caledonicus (L. neo-caledonicus of Schlechter) is seemingly 

 rare ; it was detected by Schlechter in the woods on the slopes of 

 Mount Humboldt at elevations of 5300 ft. Three species of 

 Callitris are cited, G. Balansce, C. sulcata, C. suhumhellata ; the 

 two latter were first referred to by Parlatore in the list of plants 

 of the Florence Garden, and were subsequently described by him 

 in De Candolle's Prodromus under the name of Frenela, where he 

 cited specimens in Hooker's Herbarium. A reference to these 

 shows that F. sulcata is based upon a fruiting specimen bearing 

 scale-leaves, collected by Moore in New Caledonia, and communi- 

 cated to Kew by Messrs. Veitch in August, 1862. F. suhumhellata 

 is founded upon specimens which were obtained on dry stony 

 ground at the base of the mountain-ranges south-west of New 

 Caledonia by an unnamed collector, showing both scale and 

 primordial acicular leaves, the latter free and arranged in fours, 

 the former in threes, and like those of Junipers fused. These 

 specimens can in no way be regarded as specifically distinct from 

 F. BalanscB, and agree with Balansa's specimens of F. Balansce. 

 of Brongniart & Gris., which also exhibit both foliar phases and 

 where their intimacy is remarkably well shown. The synonymy 

 is as follows : — 



Callitris sulcata Schlechter in Engler's Bot. Jahrb. xxxix. 

 IG (1906) ; C. suhumhellata and C. Balansce Schlechter, I. c. 

 Frenela sulcata and F. suhumhellata Parlatore, Enum. Sem. Hort. 

 Florent. (1862), 23 ; in De Candolle Prod. xvi. ii. 446-447 (1868) ; 

 Frenela Balansce Brongniart and Gris. in Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr. xvi. 

 (1869), 327. 



Schlechter collected specimens of a Callitris on the mountains 

 of Ngoye at elevations of about 3000 ft. in December, 1902, which 

 he regarded as identical with G. Balansce, but a critical examina- 

 tion precludes this and warrants their retention under a separate 

 name; the salient points which distinguish this species from its 

 congener lie in the short and moreover congested nature of the 

 articulated twigs, the much shorter leaves with prominent dorsal 

 convexities, and their denticulate not deeply and closely laciniate 

 hyaline margins. The following is a description : — 



Callitris neo-caledonica sp. nov. A tree about 25 ft. high 

 with a broad crown ; third year's branchlets stout, terete, rough, 

 greyish brown, invested with the remains of the decurrent scale- 

 leaves, current year's twigs short, articulated, 3-angled, leafy, 

 1-3 in. long, 1-7-2 mm. broad, ascending, fastigiate, densely 

 crowded. Leaves (only homomorphic as far as is known) imbri- 

 cate, scale-like, ternate, fused except their incurved triangular 



