Mason. — List of Plants in a New Zealand Garden. 393 



branches; bracts large; pedicels rather long. Calyx short 

 aud broad ; sepals broadly ovate, margins ciliate. Corolla 

 rather large, lin. diameter, tube much longer than the calyx. 

 Capsule ovoid, turgid, acute, rather more than twice as long 

 as the calyx. 



Hab. Three Kings Islands ; rocky places on both the 

 Great King and the Western King, but not common. 



Closely allied to V. elliptica, and principally differing in the 

 smaller size ; broader, darker green, and more coriaceous 

 leaves, which are almost always sessile ; in the more truly 

 corymbose inflorescence, larger bracts, smaller flowers, broader 

 shorter calyx, and longer tube to the corolla. In aspect the 

 two plants are very dissimilar, the dwarf habit, dark-green 

 or glaucous leaves, and lilac flowers of V. insidaris affording 

 a strong contrast to the tall-growing V. elliptica, with its 

 pale-green foliage and white flowers. 



The genus Veronica has such a pre-eminently southern dis- 

 tribution in New Zealand that the discovery of an additional 

 species in the extreme north of the colony is most interpsting. 

 It is curious that the nearest ally of F. insularis should be a 

 species which attains its maximum development in the islands 

 to the south of New Zealand, and which barely advances 

 northwards half-way along the coast of the South Island. 



Aet. XXXII. — An Account of the Plants grooving at " The 

 Glims," Taita. 



By T. Mason. 



[Read before the JVellington Philosophical Society, 11th November, 



1896.} 



The grounds and garden at " The Gums," Taita, in the valley 

 of the Hutt, near Wellington, cover an area of about 12^ 

 acres, which was originally part of a dense grove of Dacry- 

 dium totara, with trees of from 100ft. to 150ft. in height, and 

 from 3ft. to 8ft. in diameter. The outer border is planted with 

 several kinds of EucalypUis (some of which are almost equal 

 in height and diameter to many of the trees that preceded 

 them), ConifercB, and deciduous trees, with an undergrowth, 

 principally of native shrubs, in order to afi'ord protection 

 against the violent gales from the north-west and south-east 

 which frequently sweep up and down the valley. The soil is 

 a rich alluvial deposit of sandy loam, resting on gravel, at a 

 depth varying from 6ft. to lift. 



