Platk 131.— DRACOPHYLLUM RECURVUM. 



Family EPACRIDACE^.J [Genus DRACOPHYLLUM, Labill. 



Dracophyllum recurvum, Hnok. /. FJ. Anlarcl. i, 50; Haiidh. N.Z. Fl. 181 • (Uieesem Man 

 N.Z. FL 122. 



Li this series of plates I have already figured several plants which constitute a 

 prominent portion of the vegetation of the lower slopes of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, 

 and Ruapehu; and of the elevated volcanic plateau upon which these mountains 

 stand. The species now illustrated is another conspicuous member of what nmst 

 be considered a very peculiar and noteworthy type of subalpine vegetation, differing 

 in many respects from that of other mountain districts in the North Island. 



For the discovery of Dracophyllum recurvum. we are indebted to Mr. J. C. 

 Bidwill, who gathered it during a visit to Tongariro and Ngauruhoe in the year 1839. 

 A few years later it was collected by Mr. Colenso on the eastern side of the same 

 mountains. He has also recorded it from the Ruahine Mountains, and from the 

 summit of Mount Hikurangi, in the East Cape district. Since then it has been noticed 

 by all travellers to the interior of the North Island, and is now known to be a most 

 abundant plant on the lower slopes of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu, also 

 on the adjoining mountains of Kakaramea, Hauhungatahi, &c. It ascends the 

 neighbouring Kaimanawa Mountains to quite 5,000 ft., but so far has not been 

 found on any part of the Tararua Range. 



p. recurvum is a stout much branched procumbent or almost prostrate shrub, 

 forming dense masses 2 ft. to 5 ft. in diameter, but not usually rising more than 

 1 ft. to 2 ft. from the ground. The leaves are crowded at the tips of the branches, 

 spreading and recurved, the base broad and sheathing, and then narrowed into a 

 linear-subulate lamina about 1 in. in length. The flowers are arranged in short and 

 stout bracteate terminal spikes about 1 in. long, the individual flowers being about 

 Jin. The whole plant has a reddish-brown colour, which, at heights of about 

 4,000 ft., it often imparts to wide stretches of subalpine scrub. 



Under the plate of Senecio Bidwillii (t. 114) I have mentioned the chief plants 

 which, together with that species and D. recurvum, go to make up the greater part 

 of the subalpine scrub of the central volcanic plateau of the North Island. Those 

 students who wish to familiarize themselves with what is known of the oecology 

 of this very curious association should refer to Dr. Cockayne's " Report of a 

 Botanical Survey of the Tongariro National Park." 



Although D. recurvum. varies to some extent in the size of all its parts, it is 

 otherwise a remarkably well-defuied species, easily separated from all others by its 

 peculiar habit, linear-subulate patent and recurved leaves, and terminal bracteate 

 spikes. I must confess my total inability to distinguish, even as varieties, the 

 five " new species " described by Mr. Colenso in various volumes of the 

 '' Transactions of the New Zealand Institute," and particularized as synonyms 

 of D. recurvum in my Manual. 



Plate 131. Draco phyllion recurvum, drawn from specimens collected at the base of Mount 

 Ruapehu, at an ultitude of 3,500 ft. Fig. 1, leaf (x 2) ; 2, flower (x 5) ; 3, corolla laid open (x 5) ; 

 4, ovary (x 5) ; 5, scale from base of ovary (x 7) : 6, longitudinal section of ovary (x 5) ; 7, ripe 

 capsule (x 5) ; 8, seed (x 8). 



