Pj.atk ]i)6.— PTEKOSTYLIS FOLIATA. 



Family ORCHIIJACEiE.] [Genus PTEROSTYLIS, R. Br 



Pterostylis foliata, Hook. j. FL Nov. Zcl. i, 249 ; Checsem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 681. 



This is one of the numerous species the discovery of which is due to 

 Mr. Colenso, who for many years was, to use the words of Sir J. D. Hooker, 

 " the foremost New Zealand botanical explorer." He first collected it near 

 Cape Palliser in 1845; and again in 1847 near the summit of the Rua- 

 hine Mountains, where it was associated with Caladenia hi folia, figured 

 in the following plate. Subsequently he obtained it in several other locali- 

 ties on the eastern side of the North Island, where it has also been 

 gathered by Mr. Tryon, Mr. Guthrie-Smith, and others. In 1863 Mr. 

 Buchanan collected it on the uplands of eastern Otago, where, some years 

 afterwards, it was also observed by Mr. Petrie. Mr. Kirk obtained it 

 in a single station in Marlborough; but these two districts are the only known 

 localities in the South Island. It is usually found in Sphagnurn bogs, and it 

 ranges from sea-level to 3,500 ft. elevation. 



I have never had the good fortune to examine Piero.'ityHs foliata in its 

 native habitat, and am consc<piently greatly indebted to Mr. Guthrie-Smith 

 for an ample supply of s]Decimens in a fresh state collected by him on the 

 margin of Lake Tutira, in northern Hawke's Bay, and from which the accom- 

 panying plate has been prepared. His specimens proved that the species 

 varies greatly in size, some of them barely exceeding 4 in. in height, while 

 others reached quite 18 in. When fresh the leaves are rather fleshy, and the 

 reticulated veins are by no means obvious; but when dried the leaves become 

 much thinner, and the veins decidedly conspicuous, as shown in the plate. 

 The upper part of the peduncle, the ovary, and occasionally the lateral sepals, 

 are more or less glandular-pubescent, a character that has not been mentioned 

 in previous descriptions of the plant. 



As a species P. foliata is allied to P. micromcga, but differs in the stouter 

 habit, larger more reticulate and usually rosulate radical leaves, in the cauline 

 leaves being reduced to sheathing-bracts, and in the smaller flowers with 

 much shorter points to the lateral sepals. P. Oliveri is separated by the same 

 characters, and by the much larger conspicuously decurved flower. According 

 to Dr. Schlechter, it is closely allied to the New Caledonian P. Biireauviana, 

 a species with which I am not acquainted. 



Plate 196. Pterostylis foliata, drawn from .specimeas collected b}' Mr. Guthrie-Smith on the 

 margin of Lake Tutira, Hawke's Bay. Fig. 1, flower (x 2) ; 2, petal (x 2) ; 3, lip (x 3) : 4 and 5, 

 front and side view of column (x 3). 



