PuatE 36—NOTOSPARTIUM CARMICHZLL&. 
Famiry LEGUMINOS i. | [Genus NOTOSPARTIUM, Hook. rf. 
Notospartium Carmicheeliz, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 51; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 119. 
Notospartium Carmichelia was originally discovered on Christmas Day, 1853, 
by Sir David Monro, one of the earliest explorers of the botany of the north-east 
portion of the South Island. His specimens were obtained ‘“‘on the sandy and 
rocky banks of the Waihopai River,” which is the chief tributary of the Wairau 
River. In 1858 it was gathered in some locality in Canterbury by Mr. Robert 
Waitt, a gentleman of means who visited New Zealand more than once, and who 
made a small collection of plants which he gave to Sir W. J. Hooker. In 1860 
Dr. Sinclair gathered it in the Awatere Valley, Marlborough; and since then 
it has been collected in several scattered localities by Sir Julius von Haast, 
Mr. J. B. Armstrong, Rev. F. H. Spencer, Mr. H. J. Matthews, Dr. Cockayne, and 
others ; its range being apparently from the Wairau Valley southwards through 
Marlborough and North Canterbury to Mount Peel. So far as I can ascertain, it 
is nowhere an abundant plant, and is fast becoming rare in several of its habitats. 
Its altitudinal range is from 500 ft. to 2,500 ft. 
In 1897 the late Mr. T. Kirk pointed out that two types of fruit existed in 
Notosparttum—one a straight 3-5-seeded pod, the other a falcate or strongly 
curved pod containing from 3 to 10 seeds. The first he referred to the typical 
N. Carmichelie ; on the second he founded his new species N. torwlosum. 
In investigating the matter I have been much puzzled at finding little or no 
difference in the flowers of the whole of the specimens brought under my notice, 
while there is considerable deviation in the shape of the pod. This made it 
important to ascertain what kind of pod the type of N. Carmichelie possessed. 
At my request Mr. W. B. Hemsley was kind enough to examine the whole of the 
specimens in the Kew Herbarium. He informs me that Monro’s type is in 
flower only, and that the description of the fruit given by Hooker in the « Hand- 
book” was based on Waitt’s Canterbury specimens. These have a pertectly straight 
6-8-seeded pod, and agree exactly with the figure given in the Botanical Magazine. 
I may say that ripe pods sent to me many years ago by Sir Julius von Haast 
also correspond. 
The flowering specimens figured in the accompanying plate were kindly obtained 
for me by Mr. W. Stevenson, of Upcot, Upper Awatere Valley, and agree with 
Hooker’s plate in the Botanical Magazine, so far as the flowers go. But the pods 
sent by Mr. Stevenson and figured on the plate are altogether different, being 
strongly curved and much shorter than those figured by Hooker. As the Upper 
Awatere is only a short distance from the Waihopai Valley, there is a possibility 
that Monro’s type may also have curved pods, and in that case Kirk’s N. torwlosum 
sinks into the position of a synonym of N. Carmichalie, and a new name will be 
required for the plant with long straight pods collected by Waitt and others in 
Canterbury. In the accompanying plate I have given a drawing (fig. 6) of a third 
type of pod, collected by Mr. George Stevenson near the mouth of the Clarence 
River, and which is remarkable for being broadest towards the tip, thus differing 
from Waitt’s specimens, which are of equal width throughout. It is much to be 
desired that some Canterbury resident would clear up the confusion which at present 
envelops the genus and succeed in matching the floral and carpological characters 
of the various forms or species. 
Puate 36. Notospartium Carmichelic, flowers, fruit, and young plant, drawn from specimens 
collected by Mr. W. Stevenson at Upcot, in the Upper Awatere Valley. Fig. 1, flower with the calyx 
laid open, the petals being removed to show the stamens and the upper part of the style (x 4); 
2, standard (x 5); 3, one of the wing-petals (x 5); 4, keel (x5); 5, longitudinal section of ovary 
(x 4); 6, pod, from a fruiting specimen collected by Mr. George Stevenson near the mouth of the 
Clarence River (enlarged) ; 7, seed (enlarged); 8 and 9, different views of embryo, showing the double 
flexure of the radicle. 
