Prasophyllum.| ORCHIDES, 675 
1. P. patens, Ff. Br. Prodr. 318.—Stem stout or slender, 1-3 ft. 
high. Leaf sheathing the stem half-way up or rather more, the 
lamina shorter or longer than the spike. Spike rather lax, 2-5 in. 
long, many-flowered ; bracts small, broad, obtuse. Flowers +4 in. 
long, pale yellowish-green or whitish, sweet-scented. Ovary obo- 
void. Upper sepal ovate, acute, concave; lateral rather longer, 
lanceolate, quite free. Petals linear-oblong, obtuse. Lip sessile, 
as long as the sepals, erect at the base and then suddenly reflexed 
between the laterai sepals; adnate plate narrower than the disc 
and not extending much further up than the flexure of the lip; 
margins broad, thin, undulate. Column short; lateral lobes linear- 
oblong, obtuse, almost as long as the narrow erect rostellum, entire. 
Anther large, pointed, not quite equalling the rostellum.— Hook. f. 
Fl, Tasm. 1. 11, t. 111; Benth. Fl. Austral. vi. 339. 
Nortu Isuanp: Auckland—Swamps at Maungatapere, Whangarei, Carse ! 
Great Barrier Island, Kirk! Taranaki—Ngaire Swamp, abundant, 7. F. C. 
December—January. 
Easily distinguished from P. Colensoi by the much greater size, larger paler 
flowers, and longer lip, which has a much more conspicuous recurved lamina, 
the adnate plate not extending to the tip. The lateral lobes of the column are 
also much longer. It agrees well with Australian specimens of P. patens, except 
that the spike is usually denser. 
2. P. Colensoi, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 241.—Stem stout or 
slender, erect, 4-14 in. high. Leaf sheathing the stem for three- 
quarters its length or even more; lamina shorter than the spike or 
equalling it. Spike 1-3 in. long, many-flowered ; bracts as short as 
the pedicel, broad, obtuse. Flowers about 4 in. long, dull-green or 
greenish-brown, slightly fragrant; ovary obovoid, gibbous. Upper 
sepal ovate-oblong, acute, concave; lateral rather longer, connate at 
the very base, lanceolate, acute, curved backwards. Petals linear- 
oblong, obtuse. Lip shorter than the sepals, sessile, ovate, tip 
acuminate, shortly recurved, adnate plate extending almost to the 
tip, margins undulate. Column very short, lateral lobes broadly 
notched, shorter than the rostellum. Anther broad, obtuse, not 
equalling the rostellum.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 272. (?) P. pauciflorum, 
Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xviii. (1886) 273. 
Norte anD SoutH IstanDs, Stewart IsuaAnp, ANTIPODES IsLAND: From 
the North Cape southwards, but rare and local to the north of Lake Taupo. 
Sea-level to 4500 ft. November—January. 
A most abundant subalpine plant all through the mountains of the South 
Island. For some remarks on the fertilisation, see a paper by Mr. Thomson in 
the Trans. N.Z. Inst. xi. 425. 
3. P. pumilum, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 242.—Very slender, 
6-16 in. high. Stem with a lacerated fibrous sheath at the base. 
Leaf reduced to a sheathing bract near the spike; lamina 4-1 in. 
long, erect, usually reaching about half-way up the spike. Spike 
