Flora of Australia. 43 



E.ICHARDSONIA STELLARis, Cham, et Schlect. 



Specimens were found in the Herbarium sent in 1885 by 

 Betche from Mossmann's Bay, N. S. Wales, with a letter by 

 von Mueller addressed to Kew but never sent. On reference 

 to Kew the plant was determined as above, the species being 

 from S. America, and evidently an introduced weed to N. S. 

 Wales, where R. humistrata is already recorded as an intro- 

 duction. 



RoMULEA (Trichonema) crucjata, Ker-Gawl ( = R. cruciata, 



Eckl.). 



This widely-spread Irid with rose-lilac flowers, and tough 

 grass-like leaves is commonly known as the Guildford grass or 

 Onion grass, and was originally referred by F. von Mueller as R. 

 bulbocodium, L. It is given in Rodway's Flora of Tasmania as 

 R. rosea, a S. African plant. Both these species, however, liave 

 the stymie longer than the stamens, whereas our plant resembles 

 the R. cruciata, distinguished by Ker-Gawl. (Bot. Mag., 1802, pi. 

 575) from R. bulbocodium, and R. rosea, by the style shorter than 

 the stamens and the hairy filaments. Baker, in the Flora 

 Capensis, makes this species R. longifolia, Baker, but the three 

 purple stripes on the outer perianth segments given by Baker are 

 absent or very feebly developed, and the spathe segments are 

 smaller (^ cm. long in flower to 1 cm. in fruit), the inner segment 

 having a broad scarious margin. The leaf, as in the type speci- 

 mens of R. cruciata, often has a flfth groove on one edge for a 

 portion of its length, giving the appearance in transverse section 

 shown in Plate XII. (a). Otherwise the transverse section (b) 

 resembles that of R. rosea (d) more closely than that of R. bulbo- 

 codium (c), whereas the transverse section of the leaf of a type 

 specimen of R. cruciata, closely resembles that of R. bulbocodium 

 This fact and the character of the spathe segments justifles the 

 recognition of an Australian variety of R. cruciata. 



There can be no doubt that the short style with its six very 

 short stigmatic arms, which separate as the stamens shed their 

 pollen, is an adaptation for self-pollination. The flowers, which 

 are sti'ongly thermonastic, only open on warm sunny days, and do 

 not seem to have any regular insect visitors. The plant grew 



