Pi.ATK l:J8.— GEXTIANA CHATHAM ICA. 



Family GENTIANACE^.] [Genus GENTIANA. Linn. 



Gentiana chathamica, C/ieeseiii. Man. .X.Z. Fl. 41'.'. 



Gentiana chathamica was discovered by Mr. H. H. Travers during his first visit 

 to the Chatham Islands in 1863. The plants collected on that occasion were placed 

 in the hands of Baron Mueller for determination, and were reported upon in his 

 little book on the vegetation of the Chatham Islands, published in 1864. He referred 

 Mr. Travers's specimens to Forster's G. saxosa ; but then he included in that species 

 all the Gentians found in Australia and New Zealand, and. with one exception, all 

 those known from the southern part of South America ! It is perhaps hardly necessary 

 to say that these extreme views have found no supporters. The plant was also 

 gathered by Mr. Travers in his second visit in 1871. and was placed by Mr. Buchanan 

 in G. pleurogynoides. Mr. Kirk, in his " Revision of the New Zealand Gentians 

 (Trans. N.Z. Inst, xxvii (1895), 335), also referred it to G. pleurogynoides, but as a 

 separate variety, to which he gave the name of var. umhellata. While preparing my 

 " Manual of the New Zealand Flora " I received many excellent specimens of the 

 Chatham Islands plant from Mr. Cox, proving beyond all question that it constituted 

 a perfectly distinct species, and I therefore described it under the name of 

 G. chatha)iiica. 



(J. chathamica is an annual species from 6 in. to 12 in. high. Usually the stems 

 are simple and erect, but occasionallj^ there may be two or three weaker branches 

 springing from the base and usually decumbent below. The radical leaves are often 

 numerous and more or less rosulate, and vary in shape from oblong-spathulate to 

 broadly oblong. They are much thinner than is usual in the New Zealand species. 

 The flowers are white, or white streaked with pink, and are arranged in 3-12-flowered 

 umbels terminating the stem and its branches. The peculiar habit, small broad and 

 thin leaves, and small umbellate flowers with a deeply divided calyx and corolla 

 are the best marks of the species. 



According to Mr. Cox, Gentiana chathamica is not uncommon on the Chatham 

 Islands, usually in peaty swamps, but also in fairly dry situations. Baron Mueller 

 says that it is found " on fern or grass land or peaty soil." Dr. Cockayne, in his 

 interesting memoir on " The Plant Covering of Chatham Islands " (Trans. N.Z. Inst, 

 xxxiv (1902), 242-325), mentions it as occurring in heath-like situations, in the 

 Lepyrodia-Olearia bog. and on the dry ridges of the tableland. From the above it 

 is evident that the plant has a somewhat wide range of habitats. 



Pirate 138. Gentiana chalhaiuica, drawn from .specimen.s collected hj Mr. F. A. D. Cox in the 

 Chatham Islands. Fig. 1 , caly.x laid open and ovary ( x 3) ; 2, corolla laid open ( x 3) ; 3, anther 

 taken from a bud (x 6) ; 4 and 5, front and back view of anther from fully expanded flower (x 6). 



