308 ILOKA OF TASMANIA. \PolygonecB. 
traliau species are known, and as many New Zealand ; the remainder are natives of the Pacific, and Central and 
Southern America. (Named in honour of Dr. Q. Muehlenbeck, an investigator of the botany of Alsace.) 
1. Muehlenbeckia adpressa (Meisn. Gen. ii. 227); glaberrima, caule volubili (rarius prostrato), 
ramisque flexuosis sulcatis v. angulatis, ocreis brevibus laceris deciduis, foliis petiolatis oblongis rotunda- 
tisve basi hastal tisve integerrimis subcarnosis, racemis axillaribus terminalibusque inter- 
rupts, bracteis brevibus pedicellos subsequantibus, stigmatibus subsessilibus papulosis, nuce globoso-trigona. 
—Meisn. in DC. Prodr. xiv. 146. Polygonum appressum, Lab. Nov. Roll. i. 99. 1. 127 ; Br. Prodr. 420. 
Sarcogonum appressum, Sweet, Brit. Fl. Garden, ed. 3, 577. 
Var. a. roiundifolia (Meisn. I.e.); foliis ovalibus rotundatisve basi truncatis hastatis cordatisve. 
(Gunn, 432.) 
Var. (3. hastifolia (Meisn. 1. c.) ; foliis oblongis ovato-oblongisve basi hastatis truncatis v. cuneato- 
attenuatis.— P. adpressum, Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 3145. P. Gunnii, Nob. in Bond. Journ. Bot. vi. 278. 
(Gunn, 325.) 
Hab. Var. a. Sandy shores of the northern coasts. Var. /3. In dense, humid forests on the west 
coast, and interior of the Island, Gunn. — (Fl. Oct.- Jan.) 
Disteib. Var. a. Hew South Wales, Victoria, and Swan River ; New Zealand and Norfolk Island ? 
(Cultivated in England.) 
I have repeatedly examined the two Tasmanian states of this plant, and compared them with the Australian, 
and with the M. Australis (Coccoloba Australis, Forst.) of New Zealand and Norfolk Island, and am in doubt 
whether they should be regarded as three varieties or species. In the * London Journal of Botany ' I distinguished 
the var. /? of Tasmania as a new species, M. Gunnii, about whose specific distinctness Gunn has no doubts what- 
ever, but this Meisner has since united with M. adpressa. In the New Zealand Flora again I united the New 
Zealand and Norfolk Island plant with the M. adpressa, var. a, but these Meisner keeps distinct, relying chiefly on 
the more membranous leaves, more graceful habit, and fimbriated stigmata of the New Zealand plant, for distin- 
guishing them. Of those characters I cannot confirm that of the stigmata, and those of the habit and texture of 
the leaf are of little importance, but I would add the much more acuminate leaf, which is three-lobed in young 
specimens, and smaller, less fleshy perianth. With regard to the differences between the var. a and /8 of M. ad- 
pressa, they are quite as marked, though I doubt their being of specific value : Gunn well sums them up, in saying 
that the M. adpressa is a maritime plant, with trailing stems, sometimes climbing for 6 feet or so over rushes, etc., 
and with round blunt leaves at the ends of the twisted branches, with somewhat revolute margins, and smaller 
flowers and fruit ; whilst the var. $ always grows in the richest soil, in dense, humid, shaded forests, ascending to 
the tops of lofty trees, and sending out long, straight shoots; it has longer, acuminate leaves, and larger flowers 
and fruit. 
2. Muehlenbeckia axillaris (Nob. in Lond. Journ. Bot. vi. 278) ; fruticulus subcaespitosus v. 
dift'usus humilis glaberrimus, ramulis brevibus rigidis flexuosisve, ocreis persistentibus, foliis (parvis) sub- 
conaceis ellipticis ovalibus obovatis rotundatisve obtusis, floribus axillaribus solitaries v. subfasciculatis. — 
PI. N. Zeal. i. 210 ; Meisn. in DC. Prodr. xiv. 147. (Gunn, 76.) 
Hab. In moist places in various parts of the Colony, ascending to 4000 feet; Launceston, Vale of 
Belvoir, Marlborough, etc., Gunn ; near Hobarton, Oldfield.—(^\. Dec, Jan.) 
Distrib. Mountains of New South Wales, Victoria, and New Zealand. 
A very small species, forming matted patches.— Stems prostrate, much branched ; branches 2-5 inches long, 
•often elongate and flexuous. Leaves on slender petioles, small, |~| inch long, very variable in form, from elliptical 
to obovate ami rotundate, safaaettte in the narrower states, blunt or even retuse in the broader. Flowers few, 
mlW >' ; ' m than in M. avpressa. 
