432 Transactions. — Botany. 



Fine plates wei'o given by Hooker of the two species 

 described by him ; but by some mishap a leaf of P. speciosum 

 appears to have been drawn by the artist as the leaf of 

 P. crmiferum, and has caused some confusion. In the 

 botanical portion of D'Urville's " Voyage an Pole Sud" M. 

 Hombron gave a fine plate of P. criniferuni under the name 

 of Alhinea oresigenesa, which was published in 1845 ; but, 

 owing to his death before the letterpress was issued, the plant 

 was described by M. Decaisne as Plcurophyllinn liomhroni. 



In the "Transactions of the New Zealand Institute"'*' Mr. 

 J. Buchanan, F.L.S., has described a third species under the 

 name of P. hookcri. The description is accompanied by a 

 plate wdaich was unfortunately drawn from a specimen of 

 P. crinifcrum, and does not represent the plant described in 

 the text. When botanizing in the Auckland Islands I collected 

 a plant which evidently differed from both the species de- 

 scribed by Hooker, as well as from Buchanan's drawing of 

 P. liookeyi. I therefore ca,me to the conclusion that it was 

 new, and distributed specimens under the provisional name of 

 I', cjilliesianum ; but a ca-reful study of Mr. Buchanan's de- 

 scription of P. hool'cvi shows that it is certainly the plant 

 v.hich he intended to describe under that name. For this 

 reason I retain the name given by him, notwithstanding the 

 discrepancy shown in his drawing. 



It is therefore desirable on various grounds that the re- 

 cently-acquired knowledge of this interesting genus should be 

 placed at the disposal of botanists. I have embodied it ac- 

 cordingly in the revised descriptions which follow. 



It may, however, be worth while to point out that Pleiiro- 

 ]>]njllum, like Olcaria and Celmisia, differs from Astei- chiefly 

 in habit, and that much can be said in support of their union, 

 as proposed by Sir Ferdinand von Mueller with regard to 

 Olcaria and Celmisia. Should this step be adopted CJiilio- 

 trichium and other genera must be included, and the large 

 genus Aster would become unwieldy, as long since shown by 

 Pjcntham. Plcnrophyllum is therefore maintained in its 

 present position chiefly on grounds of expediency. 



All the species are characterized by large fleshy roots, 

 radical leaves, and erect scapigerous racemose inflorescence. 

 Tiie leaves are marked by parallel nerves running from the 

 base of the petiolar portion of the leaf, and which may either 

 1)0 straight or may follow the outline of the leaf. The involu- 

 cral leaves are in two or three series, the disc-florets are j)erfect, 

 with a 4-5-toothed limb, and the outer florets are female, 

 usually with ligulate corollas. The receptacles are flat and 

 alveolate, and the pappus-hairs are arranged hi 2 or .3 series,. 



* Vol. xvi., p. 395, pi. xxxvii. 



