114 



THE ART ALBUM OF NEW ZEALAND FLOEA. 



1. SWAINSONIA NOV^ ZELANDI^. {Mook, F.) T1h> New Zealand Swainsonia. 



Specific Ciiakactkh. — A Miinll, low, sparingly-brnnched 

 herb, covcroil with minute >ill>_v ]iubi-sconcp ; bniiuhes, 2 1 in. 

 long. Leaves, 1-2 in. long ; leatlet?, ojiposile, i in. long, 

 se.«sile, obovate-oblong, obtuse ov roluse; stipules, orate, 

 obtuse. Peduncle, 1 in. long, bearing 5-8 racenied flowers. 

 Flowers, purple, ^ in. long ; pedicels, rather shorter than the 



culvx, bractcale at the la.^e. Calyx, with rather long teeth, 

 villous within, and on the edges, 2-braeteolate. Standard, 

 witliout callosities; keel and wings nearly equal, straight. 

 1\ (1. large, lu^arly 1 in. lung, -^ in, bread, acute at both ends, 

 puberulous; valves, thin, coriaceous. Seeds small. — Handbook 

 of the New Zealand Flora, p. 31. 



Description, etc. — This species is iicculiar to the Middle Island, in the Canterbury 

 district, about the sources of the Kowai River, and in the Hurunui Valley. It may be 

 said to be abnost Alpine in liabit, being found in the shingly river-beds, at an altitude of 

 from 2,000 to 2,500 feet. It is very closely allied to the Tasmanian S. lesser f'upfoUa, 

 which is a larger plant, with many-flowered racemes, the inflorescence of Avhicb is slightly 

 different, having more obtuse, shorter, calyx-like teeth, and a more curved keel. 



GENUS IV. 

 CLIANTHUS. (Solander.) The Clianthus. 



Genebic Chaeactee. — Herbs; stems woody below, 

 branches often trailing. Leaves, pinnate, stipuled ; leaflets, 

 many pairs. Flowers, large, red, in pendulous racemes. 

 Calyx, companulate, 5-toothed. Standard, ovate, reflexed, 

 about as long as the keel. Wings, oblong, or lanceolate, 



auricled at the base, shorter than the boat-shaped keel. Ovarv, 

 stipitate ; style, ciliated below the apex ; ovules, numerous. 

 Pod, stipitate, terete, narrow-oblong, turgid, rostrate, many 

 seeded. — Handbook of I he Sew Zealand Flora, p. 52. 



Description, etc. — A genus of most beautiful plants, found in New Zealand, 

 Australia, and Norfolk Island. It is nearly related to a Cape of Good Hope family, 

 Stitherlandia, which has bladdery pods, while the pods in the j)resent are coriaceous. 

 The plants are herbaceous, or woody, branching shrubs, with large handsome flowers, in 

 terminal or axillarv racemes. The name of the ijenus is derived from the Greek, and 

 signifies "Glory Flower," a name peculiarly applicable to the plants. The Australian 

 species, Clianthus Dampieri, or " Sturt's Pea," has the most beautiful flowers of the 

 genus, C. carneus, a climber, with smaller flesh-coloured flowers, is a native of Norfolk 

 Island, and New Zealand is well represented by C. puniceus, the " Parrot's Bill," a 

 handsome under-shrub, well-known to most residents in the Northern Island. 



1. CLIANTHUS PUNICEUS. {Banlcs 8f Sol.) The Crimson Clianthus. 



Specific Chahactek. — A branching, herbaceous, under- 

 shrub, with prostrate or reclining branches, more or less 

 covered with appressed hairs. Leaves, 4-G in. long, unequally 

 pinnate; leaflets, in lO-l-l in. pairs, alternate, sessile, i-l in. 

 long, linear, oblong, obtuse ; stipules, triangular. Flowers, 

 6-15, in a raceme, scarlet, pendulous, 2 in. long. Calyx, 



^-3 in. long. I^■tandard, ovate, accuminate, reflexed when 

 fully expanded. Wings, falcate, acute, or obtuse, half as long 

 as the standard. Eeel, very large, boat-shaped, falcate, 

 narrowed into a long beak. — Handbook of f/ie ICeir Zealand 

 Flora, p. 52. 



Description, etc. — Plate No. 27. — The " KOAVHAI-NGUTU-KAKA " or 

 PAimOT'S BILL." This extremely handsome shrub is peculiar to the Northern 



