434 T)-an s a c tiou .s- . — Bo tanij. 



B. DiSCOIDEUM. 



2. p. criniferum, Hook, f., Fl. Aiitarct., i., 32, tt. 24 and 25. 



Radical leaves, lft.-4ft. long, 4in.-12in. broad, with long 

 sheathing-petioles, sub-erect, spreading (except the leaf), 

 oblong-lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate, or almost ovate, usually 

 acute, membranous but firm, white with thin tomentum 

 beneath, upper surface slightly scabrid or setose, margins 

 with a few distant projecting teeth. Stems 2ft.-6ft. high, 

 stout, strongly grooved, cauline leaves sessile, white above and 

 beneath. Heads discoid, lin.-liin. diameter. Involucral 

 leaves ovate-acuminate, or oblong, sparingly ciliate. Ray- 

 florets short, bifid or trifid or tripartite. Achene strigose ; 

 pajDpus - hairs slightly thickened upwards. Pleurophylhtm 

 Jwmhroni, Decaisne, Bot., Voy. au Pole Sud, p. 36. Albinca 

 origencsa, Homb., Icon., t. 4, Dicot. Phan. P. liookcri, J. 

 Buch., Trans. N.Z. Inst., pi. xxxvii. 



Hah. Antipodes Island, T. Kirk. Auckland and Campbell 

 Islands, Hook. f. Macquarie Island ('?), Professor Scott. Sea- 

 level to 1,100ft. 



The petiolate leaves at once distinguish this species, which 

 is easily recognized even at a considerable distance. The 

 leaves vary in outline to even a greater extent than stated in 

 the descriptions, some specimens being almost linear-lanceo- 

 late, others obovate-lanceolate, and others again almost 

 orbicular-ovate ; the sheathing-petioles sometimes equal the 

 lamina, at others they are not one-third of its length, but they 

 are never absent, and are invariably tomeutose below : the 

 cauline leaves should be considered as large bracts ; they are 

 never petioled, and are usually tomentose on both surfaces; 

 they give the entire plant a handsome conical form, which is 

 very distinctive. The curious projecting marginal teeth are 

 sometimes reduced to mere points, but are rarely absent ; the 

 principal nerves, 7 to 15, are extremely slender, and follow the 

 outline of the leaf ; they may easily be traced from the base 

 of the petiole. Flower-heads from 15 to 30 or more, the 

 terminal being the largest ; peduncles varying in length from 

 lin. to 6in., erect. The rays are few and very short, so 

 that the discoid form of the anthodium is not impaired. 

 The pappus-hairs are in three series, and slightly thickened 

 above, as observed by M. Decaisne. 



The examination of numerous specimens in the living state 

 demonstrated the impossibility of maintaining P. hombronl 

 as a species distinct from P. criniferum. The supposed ab- 

 sence of the petiole in P. criniferum is clearly due to the error 

 in the original plate ; the other characters to which M. 

 Decaisne attaches importance are the longer peduncles, the 

 widely separated stigmas, and the slightly clavate hairs of the 



