BY L. RODWAY, GOVERNMENT BOTANIST. 4I 



SLib-alpiiie moors. It trails for a few inches on the 

 ground, has thick, narrow, oblong, overlapping leaves 

 bordered by few teetb; its fruit is dark, glabrous, and 

 dumentum on t'he stem and peduncle. It is one of the 

 forms included by Hooker in lE. tenuipes. The other is 

 E. Tasmanicum, of Haussknecht. This is certainly 

 rather close to the last, but the Leaves are broad, entire 

 on the margin or nearly so, and always stalked ; the 

 fruiting peduncle is very elongated, and the plant is quite 

 g-labrous. The appearance is very much that of the 

 typical E. tenuipes, only that has very narrow leaves and 

 smooth seeds. E. Tasmanicum occurs in New Zealand, 

 but it is a rare species, and neither Kirk, Cheeseman, 

 nor Haussknecht himself appear cjuite clear as to its 

 characters. 



All our species have broadly clavate stigmas and 

 minutely papillose seeds. From descriptions of Epilo- 

 bium, students would infer that the sepals are free or 

 nearly so; in all our species the calyx is distinctly 

 tubular at the base. Petals always notched in the centre. 

 For the use of collectors I include a short analysis of 

 the plants : — 



Oenothera Tasmanica, Hook, f. Fl. Tas., a small, 

 weak, vaguely-branched herb, decumbent or ascending 

 not long stalked ; it generally bears a fair amount of in- 

 amongst undergrowth, 2 to 4 inches high, slightly 

 pubescent, with simple hairs. Leaves mostly opposite, 

 narrow, oblong to ovate, of a thin texture, narrowed 

 into a very short petiole, obtuse, about ^A inch long, 

 bordered by a few small distant serrations. Flowers few, 

 single in the axils, nearly sessile, about as long as the 

 leaves. Calyx about 2 lines long, the lobes as long as 

 the tube, the whole deciduous. Petals purple pink, 

 rat'her exceeding the calyx obcordate, inserted at the 

 orifice of the tube. .Stamens eight, the four opposite the 

 petals shorter than the sepaline ones, arising from the 

 base but adherent to the top of the tube : anthers short, 

 broadly oblong, minutely apiculate. Capsule about Yi 

 inch long, lanceolate, obscurely tetraquetrous, nearly 

 sessile, often slightly curved. Seeds minute, hairless, 

 obovate, convex externally. 



In wet sub-alpine places. ^larlborough, ^liddlesex 

 Plains. 



