28 RANUNCULACE. [Caltha. 
1. C. novee-zealandiz, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 12,.t. 6.—A 
perfectly glabrous perennial herb 1-6in. high. Rootstock stout, 
with fleshy rootlets. Leaves all radical, spreading; petiole variable 
in length, 4-4 in., grooved, base dilated, membranous, sheathing the 
stem; lamina 4-1 in. long, ovate-oblong, entire or sinuate, notched 
at the apex, deeply 2-lobed at the base, the lobes (auricles) turned 
upwards and almost appressed to the surface of the leaf. Scape 
solitary, naked, 1-flowered, 3-4 in. long, short at frst but lengthen- 
ing as the fruit ripens. Flowers pale-yellow, sweet-scented, $—1 in. 
diam. Sepals 5-7, narrow, linear-subulate, tapering from the base 
into an almost caudate point, 3-nerved. Stamens 15-20. Carpels 
6-12, ovate, narrowed into a short stout style. Follicles spreading, 
with a short hooked style; seeds few, 2-5.—Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. 
Ki. 9; Kirk, Students’ Fi. 21. C. marginata, Col. im Trans. N.Z. 
Inst. xxiii. (1891) 382. 
Noxrty Istanp: Ruahine Mountains, Colenso! Tararua Mountains, Bu- 
chanan, Townson! SourH Istanp: Not uncommon on the higher moun- 
tains as far south as Stewart Island. Altitudinal range 2500 to 5500 ft. 
-October—January. 
2. C. obtusa, Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxiii. (1901) 312. 
—Smaller than C. nove-zealandie, seldom more than 2 in. high. 
Leaves smaller; blade broader, wide-ovate or almost rounded, 
coarsely dentate, notched at the apex, 2-lobed at the base, Icbes 
turned upwards and appressed to the surface, toothed. Flowers 
white, din. diam., at first sessile among the uppermost leaves, but 
the scape elongates in fruit. Sepals 5, oblong. obtuse or subacute, 
broadest above the middle. Stamens 10-15. Carpels 5-8, narrow- 
ovate ; style long, slender. Ripe fruit not seen. 
NorrH Istanp: Herb. Colenso! (probably from the Ruahine Range, but 
~without locality or collector’s name). SourH Istanp: Mountains at the head 
of the Broken River, Canterbury, 5000-6000 ft., “'. #. C. Otago—Mount St. 
Bathan’s and Dunstan Mountains, 5000-6000 ft., Petrie! Black Peak, 6000 ft., 
Buchanan ! 
The white flowers and blunt oblong sepals distinguish this at once from 
C. nove-zealandie, but in a flowerless state it is easily mistaken for a dwarf 
form of that plant, although the leaves are always broader and coarsely dentate. 
The sepals are markedly different from the long tapering almost caudate sepals 
of C. nove-zealandié. I have not been able to compare it with the Australian 
and Tasmanian C. itroloba, F. Muell., which is said to have white flowers, 
but judging from descriptions it can hardly be the same. 
Orver II. MAGNOLIACE:. 
Trees or shrubs, often aromatic. Leaves alternate, entire or 
toothed, stipulate or exstipulate. Flowers axillary or terminal, 
solitary or fascicled, often large. Sepals 3, seldom more, deciduous. 
Petals 3-6, in several rows, hypogynous, imbricate in the bud. 
Stamens indefinite, hypogynous; anthers adnate. Carpels either 
many and imbricated on an elongated receptacle, or few in a single 
