170 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



the species to which these descriptions allude. Sometimes 

 not a scrap of the original specimens, from which the 

 characters have been drawn up, is to be found in herbaria. 

 Under these circumstances, it is a matter of astonishment 

 how many of the original species have been identified with 

 certainty. In spite, however, of all the perseverance and 

 research of modern workers, a few of the forms apparently 

 known to the earliest explorers, have not been re-discovered in 

 recent times. In some cases it is probable that the plant has 

 been redescribed under a fresh name ; in a very few cases, it 

 may be, that, by some lucky chance, the first collectors found 

 a plant that, on account of its extreme rarity, has never been 

 seen again. In JR. crithmifolius we have a plant which has 

 not been re-identified since first found by Travers on the 

 shingle-slips of the Wairau Gorge. Even then only a single 

 plant was seen. (cf. Cotula filiformis, Senecio perdicioides, 

 and Pittosporum obcordatum). 



It seems more than likely, therefore, that the plant was a 

 asual variant of some other form, than really a distinct 

 species. If, however, the original description is to be trusted, 

 JR. crithmifolius is one of the most remarkable species of the 

 genus. 



Like all other shingle-slip plants, it is highly specialized ; 

 otherwise it would not be able to live in the place whence it 

 was reported. A full description of the conditions of life in 

 such a locality will be found under Stellaria Roughii, R 3 

 crithmifolius has leaves, which, on a smaller scale, closely 

 resemble those of the rock samphire, a plant of an altogether 

 different order. They are thick, succulent, bluish-green, and 

 highly polished. They thus differ widely from the normal 

 leaf-forms of the genus. 



Diels compares them with the leaves of Ligusticum carno- 

 sulum, which is one of the most singular species of the 

 flora, and also grows on the same shingle-slips in the Wairau 

 Gorge. 



