178 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



Pachycladon novae-Zelandiae. (The New Zealand 



Pachycladon). 



A stout, branching herb, found in mountainous districts of the South Island. 

 Leaves in rosettes. Scape, 2-5-flowered. Petals twice as long as the sepals. 

 Ascends to 5000 feet. 



This is a remarkable endemic cruciferous genus of Central 

 and South- Western Otago. There is only one species, P. 

 novae-Zelandiae, unless indeed a form reported from the 

 mountains at the head of Lake Ohau, should prove to be 

 distinct. The foliage is arranged in the form of a rosette, i.e., 

 there is no stem. The leaves are, therefore, all radical, and 

 arranged in concentric circles round the flower stem. The 

 common dandelion is a typical rosette plant. Anyone who 

 has dug one of these weeds out of a lawn, knows what an 

 ugly bare patch is left behind. The rosette plant so cornpletely 

 covers the soil beneath it, that nothing else can grow there. 

 In the struggle for existence it successfully chokes out its- 

 competitors. However, the desire for exclusive territorial 

 possession, cannot be the purpose of the rosette of Pachycladon, 

 for it grows on the shingle-slips, where there is plenty of room. 

 Positions on such exposed situations are not greatly coveted, 

 for few plants can successfully brave the hardships of life in 

 such localities. 



It is probable that Pachycladon owes its rosette form, 

 not to its environment, but to its ancestry. Many of the 

 Cruciferae have this type of leaf arrangement, and it is not 

 infrequently met with on the shingle slips. (See also 

 Notothlaspi) . 



Genus Notothlaspi. 



A small endemic genus, found only in the South Island. Herbs, with thick 

 radical leaves, and scapes of white flowers. Stamens 6. Pods compressed, 

 winged, Jin. - lin. in length. 



Notothlaspi rosulatum. (The JRosette-Uke Notothlaspi). 



An erect, stemless herb. Leaves in a crowded rosette, hairy when young, 

 glabrous when old. Flowers white, fragrant, pyramidal. Shingle beds in the 

 alpine districts of the South Island. The Pen-Wiper Plant of the Settlers. PI. 

 Dec. -Jan. 2 sp. 



