the same district. Since then it has been observed by every botanist who has 

 examined the vegetation of tlie nortliern portion of the North Ishmd, for, so 

 far as the district to tlie nortli of the Bay of i'lenty and Kawhia is concerned, 

 it is one of the most abundant of tlie terrestrial orchids. In the southern 

 portion of tlie North Island it is decidedly rare and local, although it extends 

 to the neighbourhood of Wellington. In the South Island the only locality 

 yet recorded is Mount Peter, in northern Marlborough, where it was detected 

 some years ago by Mr. J. H. Macmahon. 



P. trullifolia has a somewhat wider range of habitats than Prasophyllum 

 pumilu/ii. Although often found on Leptotipenniivt-cldd hills, it requires 

 more shade than the Prasophylhim, and delights in sheltered nooks in tall 

 Leptospermum, where there is a plentiful supply of luunus and not too much 

 moisture. It is also conunon in mossy places in tolerably dry and open forest, 

 but is seldom seen where the forest is thick and dense. Its altitudinal range 

 is from sea-level to 2,000 ft. or a little more. Two well-marked varieties are 

 commonly seen. The hrst, which must be regarded as the type, has a rather 

 large flower often an inch in length, and the petiolate radical leaves are 

 usually present in flowering specimens, and frequently very numerous in 

 barren ones, forming a conspicuous rosette. The other variety, which may be 

 distinguished as var. gracilis, is taller and more slender, with a smaller flower 

 varying from i in. to | in. in length; the caiiline leaves ai'e nanower, the radical 

 leaves are seldom present in flowering specimens, and in barren plants are 

 fewer in number and smaller. Both varieties are hgured in the accompanying 

 plate. 



The genus Pterostylis has a very similar geographical distribution to that 

 of Thelymitra and Prasophyllum. It contains approximately about fifty 

 species, of which thirty-six or thirty-seven are Australian. Eleven species 

 are found in New Zealand, two of them being the same as Australian forms; 

 three are known from New Caledonia, one of them being probably identical 

 with an Australian species; and a single species {P. papuana, Rolfe) is found 

 in New Guinea. 



Plate 194a. Prasophyllum pumilum, drawn from specimens collected by Mr. R. H. Matthews 

 near Kaitaia, Mongonui Coimty. Fig. 1, two flowers ; 2, the two lateral sepals, coanate at the base 

 3, lateral petals, lip, and column ; 4, side view of lip and column ; 5, front view of column, with the 

 ribband-like base of the lip. (All enlarged.) 



Plate 194b. Pterostylis iruUifolm, drawn from specimens collected in the vicinity of Auckland. 

 Fig. 6, flower (x 1^) ; 7, a single petal (x 2) ; 8, lip and column (x 4) ; 9, lip with its appendix (x 6) ; 

 10, front view of rolumn, with the wings spread open (x 6) ; 11, tip of appendix to the lip, highly 

 magnified. 



