272 Transactions. — Botany. 



Hah. Sources of Broken Eiver, Canterbury alps (4,000ft.). 



Tliis grass attains great luxuriance of growth on spray- 

 washed rocky faces. In wet ground with inferior drainage 

 more stunted forms are found. It is somewhat closely allied 

 to Poa mackayi, Buchanan, from which it is distinguished 

 by the involute or incurved leaves, the short ligule, the broad 

 panicle with smooth divaricating branches, the larger size of 

 the spikelets, and the different colour, clothing, and texture of 

 the flowering-glumes. The nerves are much less prominent 

 than in that species, and the glumes are never scabrid. I have 

 to record my thanks to Mr. Buchanan for allowing me to 

 compare it with the type of his species. 



10. Asprella aristata, sp. nov. 



Culms slender, smooth, leafy below, lOin. to 20in. long. 

 Leaves bluish-green, much shorter than the culms, narrow, 

 flat, membranous, softly villous (especially on the sheaths) ; 

 cauline leaves nearly glabrous ; ligule short, membranous, 

 irregularly toothed or jagged. 



Spike 2in. to din. long, broadly linear, of 15 or fewer 

 spikelets. 



Spikelets pale bluish - green, sessile, solitary, 2- to 4- 

 flowered. Empty glumes narrow, obliquely falcate, concave, 

 strongly nerved, aristate, usually toothed on one side only, 

 membranous at the edges ; the midrib and edges of the arista 

 scabrid. 



Flowering-glumes lanceolate, coriaceous, rounded on the 

 back, smooth, 3- to 5-nerved, the apex shortly and in general 

 obliquely toothed and produced into a tapering scabrid arista 

 half as long as the glume ; the upper half of the midrib scabrid 

 and more or less keeled. 



Palea coriaceous, nearly as long as the glume, with finely- 

 ciliate nerves. 



Upper half of ovary densely villous ; styles two plumose 

 to the base. Scales broadly triangular, entire, glabrous. 



Hah. Sources of Broken Eiver (4,000ft.), and valleys of 

 Mount Torlesse (3,500ft.), Alps of North Canterbury. 



This species is well marked by its soft villous leaves, short 

 and rather stout spike, broader falcate nerv^ed outer glumes, 

 and the larger number of flowers in the spikelet. I am not 

 sure that it should be inducted in Asprella, as it has many 

 characters in common with the genus Agropyrum, Beauv. 

 It may even be doubted if any of the New Zealand grasses 

 referred to Asprella are really members of that genus. 



11. Gastrodia sesamoides, E. Br. 



This Australian orchid has not hitherto been recorded 

 from New Zealand, but I am now able to add it to the species 



