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THE ART ALBUM OF NEW ZEALAND FLORA. 



h\v<j;v\; always less notcliod, and the root always more than annual ; l)iit these distinctions 

 are said not to be constant. The amount and depth of pitting of the seed varies much in 

 (liifmvnt specimens. The species ranges through temperate Australia and North and 

 South America, in Avhich latter country it has several names. Of the four species 

 peculiar to New Zealand G. dissectiim is the largest and handsomest, the pink flowers 

 of Avliich often measure three-quarters of an inch aci'oss, and are produced very 

 abundantly. It commences to bloom early in Summer, and often continues until late 

 in Autumn. In country districts it is found growing luxuriantly on the road-sides and 

 bordering the ditches; in fact, wherever the land has been cleared, or burnt off, it springs 

 up spontaneously and grows -with vigour. The native name of the plant, "Matua- 

 kumara," means, literally, "the father or parent of the Kumara ; " and, as it grows 

 prolifically in their plantations, the Maoris may in some manner believe that its presence 

 augurs well for, and ensures the increased growth of, their much-esteemed product the 

 Kumara. In times of scarcity, the root of this species was eaten as food. Unim- 

 portant as this little plant is from a floral point of view, it reminds us of the very 

 beautiful members of its family which ornament, with luxuriant growth, our colonial 

 gardens — offshoots of the handsome European and African species, adorning the 

 greenhouses and gardens of the fair land of Britain. Some of our readers mav feel 

 surprised to hear that many of our so-called handsome Geraniums displayed at exhi- 

 bitions, with their brilliant and varied colours of leaf and flower, are classified by 

 botanists under the genus Pelargonium. Most of the species are astringent, jiarticularly 

 the North American G. macidatnm or "Alum-root," the rhizome of which is used in its 

 native coimtry instead of Kino. The Tasmanian G. j)arciflorHm is there called the 

 " Native carrot," and its tubers are used as food. There are about a dozen British species. 

 The specific name of dissectum, given to the subject of our plate, is in allusion to the 

 much cut form of its leaves, which make the plant at all times very distinguishable. 

 The varieties are : — inlostnn, covered with spreading hairs, petals often large ; pafiilnm, 

 leaves covered with spreading and retrorse hairs, petals usually small; and glahratum, 

 more glabrous, with leaves 3 to 5-lobed, and with the lobes broader. 



2. GERANIUM MICROPHYLLUM {Rook., F.) The Small-leaved Geranium. 



Specific Chaeactke. — Leaves orbicular, J-l in. broad, 

 usually cut to or below the middle into 5-7 broad, obcuneate, 

 toothed, obtuse lobes ; petioles slender; stipules small. Ped- 

 uncles rarely 2-llowered. Flowers smaller than in ff . dissectum 



(var. paluhim), excepting in fine specimens ; the sepals with 

 very short awns; and the petals larger in proportion, white 

 or pale-pink, retuse. Carpels even, with short hairs. Seeds 

 minutely dotted. — Handbook of the X'em Zealand Flora, p. 36. 



Description, etc. — A very slender, jirostrate, straggling, branched plant, 12 to 15 

 inches long, more or less covered with silky white, appressed spreading hairs, often retrorse 



