PuatTeE 65.—LIGUSTICUM HAASTII. 
Famity UMBELLIFER. ] [Genus LIGUSTICUM, Linn. 
Ligusticum Haastii, 7. Muell. ex Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 95; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 217. 
Ligusticum Haastii is another prominent alpine plant discovered by Sir Julius 
von Haast during his many explorations in the Southern Alps. So far as I can 
ascertain, his first specimens were collected in the summer of 1861, on the mountains 
flanking the Rangitata and Ashburton Valleys. He appears to have forwarded 
some of them to Baron Mueller, of Melbourne, who suggested the name under which, 
a few years later, the species was described by Sir J. D. Hooker. Subsequent 
investigators have found that it is widely distributed in the central portions of 
the Southern Alps, particularly in the districts subject to the large western rainfall, 
where it is a prominent constituent of the subalpine meadows. It is most plentiful 
at an altitude of about 3,000 ft., but descends as low as 1,500 ft. in several localities, 
and I have seen it as high as 5,000 ft. Its northern limit appears to be on Mount 
Stokes, near Pelorus Sound ; but as a rule it is rare and local in the north-eastern 
portion of the South Island. In the Nelson Provincial District I have not myself 
seen it further north than the mountains between the Clarence and the Waiau ; but 
on the western side of the Island it is more frequently seen—in fact, Mr. Townson 
informs me that it is a most abundant plant on all the coastal mountains as far as 
Mokihinui, and possibly farther north. 
L. Haastii is related on the one side to LZ. Lyall, and on the other to 
L. brevistyle, but is abundantly distinct from both. From the first it can be 
separated at a glance by the much more finely cut membranous leaves, the 
segments of which are bristle- pointed. The latter differs in its much smaller size, 
more slender habit, sparingly divided leaves, and very short styles. 
In another publication (** The Subantarctic Islands of New Zealand,” vol. ii, 
p- 408) I have mentioned that in the “Genera Plantarum” Mr. Bentham has 
transferred to Aciphylla all the southern species referred by Hooker to Ligusticum, 
and recently several botanists have followed his lead. No doubt the floral and 
carpological characters of the two groups are very similar; but, on the other 
hand, the habit of the true Aczphylla, with their rigid and coriaceous spinous 
leaves, and paniculate inflorescence protected by spinous bracts, is most distinctive. 
I feel sure that Mr. Bentham would never have made the proposal if he had been 
familiar with Aciphylla in a living state. In any case, the two groups would have 
to be separated as subgenera, which is practically the same arrangement under 
another name without its conveniences. If the southern plants placed by Hooker 
in Ligusticum are to be excluded from that genus (and it may be remarked that 
the numerous vitte of the typical Ligustica constitute a marked difference), then 
Hooker’s genus Anisotome should be revived for the reception of the greater portion 
of them. 
Prare 65. Ligusticum Haastii, leaf, and the inflorescence from male and female plants, drawn 
from specimens collected in the Mount Cook district, Canterbury, at an altitude of 4,000 ft. Fig. 1, 
male flower, with the petals and stamens removed (x6); 2, male flower, complete (x 6); 3, petal 
(x6); 4, female flower (x 6); 5, the same with the petals removed (x 6); 6, fruit (x5); 7, trans- 
verse section of same (x 5). 
