Platk 151.— veronica MATTHKWSII. 



Family SCROPHULARIACE^.l [Oenus VERONICA. Linn. 



Veronica Matthewsii, Clieesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. .517. 



ThiK handsome plant worthily commemorates the name of the late Mr. H. J. 

 Matthews, for many years the head of the Forestry Department, and to whose active 

 and zealous aid all New Zealand botanists are much indebted. During the early 

 part of the preparation of this work he was indefatigable in forwarding material 

 and notes, which in several cases were of very great service. His premature 

 death leaves a serious gap in the limited number of workers who are interested in 

 New Zealand botany from both its scientific and practical aspects ; and on that 

 account and for other reasons is much to be regretted. 



The specimens figured in this plate are from plants cultivated in Mr. Matthews'!-' 

 garden at Mornington, near Dunedin. These were originally obtained from the 

 Humboldt Mountains, to the west of Lake Wakatipu, an unusually rich locality for 

 alpine plants, and one still very imperfectly explored. I have also seen a few wild 

 specimens from the same locality, together with others collected by Sir Julius 

 von Haast and Mr. Armstrong in the Canterbury Alps, and by Mr. J. D. Enys in 

 Milford Sound. It is not uncommon in cultivation in the South Island, and until 

 quite lately has been treated as a variety of V. Traversii. 



V. Matthewsii has a very distinctive habit and appearance. It has stout terete 

 branches often purplish-red when young, which bear numerous close-set thick and 

 coriaceous flat leaves f in. to 1| in. long. These are oblong or elliptic-oblong, obtuse, 

 sessile and rounded at the base. The racemes are near the tips of the branches or 

 rarely lateral, large, 2 in. to 4 in. long including the peduncle, densely mnny-flowered. 

 The flowers are large. \ in. to \ in. diameter, white or purplish. The calyx-segments 

 are obtuse, barely reaching half-way up the rather slender corolla-tube. The 

 capsule is about \ in. long, obtuse or subacute, about twice as long as the calyx. 



As mentioned above, V. Matthewsii has hitherto been confused with V. Traversii. 

 It is, however, a much more robust plant with a different habit of growth ; the leaves 

 are thicker and more coriaceous, and much more obtuse ; and the racemes are larger 

 and stouter, with much larger flowers. Judging from the description and the plate 

 given in the Botanical Magazine, it is probably nearer to V. Balfouriana, a species 

 apparently only known in cultivation in England. But it difi^ers from that in the 

 larger leaves, obtuse calyx-segments, and much longer corolla -tube, which in 

 F. Balfouriana is barely longer than the calyx. 



V. Matthewsii does well in cultivation, like many other of the indigenous species, 

 and is deserving of greater attention than has yet been paid to it. 



Plate I.jI. Veronica Mattlieivsii. drawn from specimens cultivated in the garden of the late 

 Mr. H. J. Matthews. Mornington. Dunedin. Fig. 1, flower with bract (x 5) ; 2, back view of flower 

 (x5); 3, calyx laid open, showing ovary and style (x6); ^. corolla laid open (x 4) ; 5 and 6, 

 front and back view of anther (x 6) ; 7, ripe capsule (x 5). 



