T. Kinx.—Deseriptions of New Plants. 463 
diameter, have been destroyed by fire every year in the process of clearing. 
This has arisen from the difficulty of conveying the timber by land, water- 
carriage not being available as in the case of the kauri; so that rimu, tho 
cheap timber of the south, could only be obtained in Auckland at a higher 
rate than kauri, and as kauri has the advantage of being more easily worked 
than rimu, the latter has been rarely used by the cabinet-maker, notwith- 
standing the advantage it possesses in colour and “figure.” But, since the 
construction ef the Waikato Railway, I am assured that a change has taken 
place in this respect. Rimu is abundant at Drury, Pukekohe, Pokenoe, 
and other places along the line, and the settlers have taken advantage of 
the facilities for carriage placed at their disposal—they have converted their 
rimu into boards instead of burning it, and rimu furniture is much more 
common in the workshops of the Auckland cabinet-makers than was the 
case prior to the formation of the railways. We may fairly expect that 
similar results will take place with regard to other neglected products. 
Art. LXXVI.— Descriptions of New Plants. By T. Kx, F.L.S. 
[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 1st March, 1879.] 
ComposiTz. 
Olearia oleifolia. 
A wvcH branched shrub 5 to 8 feet high; branchlets crowded, strict, 
ascending, angular, clothed with short velvetty pubescence; leaves 2" to 9" 
long, 4" to 4” wide, coriaceous, shortly petioled, narrow lanceolate, acute, 
erect, minutely reticulated above, white beneath with matted appressed 
hairs forming an even surface, veins obscure; corymbs on slender pedun- 
cles twice as long as the leaves; heads numerous on slender pedicels, 
involucre narrow, 1" to 1" long, cylindrical, scales few, inner membranous, 
linear, ciliated, pubescent; florets 4-5, two or three with a broad obovate 
ray; pappus hairs white, scabrid at the tip; achene furrowed silky. 
Hab: South Island—Ashburton, T. H. Potts!  Bangitata, 4,000- 
5,000 feet, J. F. Armstrong! Preservation Inlet, Otago, J. D. Enys! 
For my first knowledge of this plant, Iam indebted to Mr. Potts, who 
showed me specimens under cultivation several years ago, and expressed his 
belief in its specific distinctness, although he had not seen flowers. A 
living plant kindly given me by Mr. Armstrong in 1873 flowered for the 
first time in February, 1878, Its affinities are with O. avicenniafolia and 
0. albida, from both of which it is distinguished at sight by its strict habit, 
