PLATE 109.—ABROTANELLA LINEARIS anp 
ABROTANELLA PUSILLA. 
Fammy COMPOSIT A. | [Genus ABROTANELLA, Cass. 
Abrotanella linearis, Berggr. in Minnesk. Fisiog. Sallsk. Lund. viii (1877), 14, t. 3, f. 28-38 ; 
Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 361. 
Abrotanella pusilla, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 139; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 362. 
Abrotanella is one of those genera often called antarctic ; not on account of 
inhabiting the Antarctic Continent, which in point of fact possesses only a single 
phanerogam, but because their species are mainly found on the land masses which 
approach most nearly to the Antarctic regions. Out of the fourteen species which 
compose the genus, seven are known from the New Zealand area, ranging from the 
Ruahine Range to the Auckland and Campbell Islands; three are found on the 
Australian or Tasmanian mountains ; and three more occur either in Fuegia or on 
the Falkland Islands. In addition to the above, a single isolated species has been 
described from the Island of Rodriguez, to the eastward of Mauritius, being the only 
representative of the genus found within the tropics. 
A, linearis was one cf the discoveries made by Dr. 8. Berggren, of Lund, Sweden, 
who in the years 1874 and 1875 travelled through the greater part of New Zealand 
for the purpose of studying its vegetation. His specimens were collected on Kelly’s 
Hill, on the western side of the Otira Valley, Westland, and were fully described 
and figured by himself in a memoir issued under the auspices of the University of 
Lund. A few years later it was collected by Mr. T. Kirk and myself in many localities 
in the Provincial Districts of Canterbury and Nelson. It is now known to extend 
from the Mount Arthur Range, in the north-west of Nelson, throughout the whole 
length of the South Island, reappearing in Stewart Island, to the south of Foveaux 
Strait. As a rule, it is most plentiful on the western side of the watershed of the 
Alps. It ascends to quite 4,500 ft., and in the northern part of the South Island 
is seldom seen below 2,500 ft. In Stewart Island it descends to sea-level. It is 
usually found in damp sheltered places in subalpine meadows, or in open places 
amongst scrub, and is very variable in stature and in the length of its leaves. 
A. pusilla was collected in 1845 by Mr. Colenso in his first journey to the Ruahine 
Range, one of the most adventurous expeditions made by Europeans during the 
first explorations of the interior of the Dominion. His specimens, which were 
gathered in “snowy places” on the summit of the range, were forwarded to Sir 
J. D. Hocker at Kew, and were described by him in the ‘“‘ Flora Nove Zelandiz ” 
under the name of Trineuwron pusillum. A few years later Professor Asa Gray showed 
that Trineuron and the allied groups, to which Hooker had given the names of 
Ceratella and Scleroleima, were not really separable from Abrotanella ; and in the 
“Handbook” Sir J. D. Hooker reduced all three to that genus. 
For more than sixty years Colenso’s plant was not gathered by any other botanist. 
In the summer of 1907, however, Mr. Petrie and Mr. Aston made an ascent of Mount 
Hector, the culminating-point of the southern portion of the Tararua Range, and 
were fortunate enough to obtain a fine series of specimens of it, some of which have 
been used in the preparation of this plate. Mr. Petrie remarks (Trans. N.Z. Inst. 
xl (1908), 295), “In the more level spots considerable areas of shallow, haltf-peaty, 
half-swampy soil are met with, and here the vegetation is very different. The most 
abundant and most characteristic plant is Abrotanella pusilla. . . . It is a very 
slender, low, densely matted, moss-like plant, with an inflorescence that barely 
exceeds the leaves, carpeting quite a large proportion of all wet and boggy ground. 
With it occur Astelia linearis (in fine fruit), Carpha alpina, Centrolepis viridis, 
