* 
Kirk.—On an undescribed Species of Cordyline. 245 
At the outset, however, it is certain that neither C. indivisa of Dusky Bay, 
nor C. hookeri of the North Island, exhibit uniformly simple stems, as stated 
in the Handbook; neither are the leaves uniformly contracted at the base, 
either in young specimens or old. In these particulars both forms exhibit (so 
far as is known) much the same amount of variation as C. australis, C. banksii, 
or C. pumilio, and the same remark will apply, although possibly with less 
force, to the yellow or red colouration of the principal veins, a character upon 
which stress has been laid by writers. 
Cordyline hookeri, n. s. 
Stem arboreous, simple or branched, 2—18 feet high, massive. Leaves 
thick, excessively coriaceous, 2—5 feet long, ensiform, glaucous beneath, usually 
much contracted immediately above the base, central vein not prominent. 
Panicle cylindrical, pendulous, 3 feet long or more, with immense bracts at the 
base 5 feet long, 4—5 inches wide, gradually decreasing in size until towards 
the middle of the panicle they become shorter than the branches. Branches 
very numerous, close set, imbricating, simple except at the base of the panicle, 
jointed with the rhachis. Flowers densely crowded, shortly pedicelled, 4 inch 
in diameter, bractlets scarcely longer than the pedicel, very white, globose, 
seeds black, angled. 
Habitat—North Island, Ruahine Mountains, Colenso; Mount Egmont, 
Buchanan and others; Hauraki Gulf, lofty ranges between the Miranda 
Redoubt and Eastern Wairoa (young plants only), S. P. Smith. I have also 
been informed that the same plant occurs on high ranges between the 
‚ Northern Wairoa and Whangarei. 
The only flowering example that has yet been available for examination 
is the fine cultivated specimen in Mr. Owen’s grounds at Epsom, which 
flowered for the first time in November last (1872), when it was six years old. 
It was at once seen that it differed from the Dusky Bay plant in the 
small size of the individual flowers, which are not more than } inch in 
diameter; Forster’s-plant being described as having flowers from 3 to 1 inch 
in diameter ; and in the relative length of the bracteoles, which, in our plant, 
© аге scarcely longer than the pedicels. It does not appear, moreover, that 
Forster's plant possesses the immense bracts of this species, a character too 
prominent, if present, to have escaped the notice of so good an observer. 
The dimensions of Mr. Owen's plant are: height of stem 111 feet, 
circumference, at 2 feet from base, 1 foot 8 inches; leaves 41 feet long, width 
at base 8 inches, sharply contracted to 4} inches, and gradually widening to 
6 inches just above the middle of the leaf. Four offsets have been given off 
with leaves 3 feet long, or more. After flowering the stem divided so far as 
to form two crowns, the younger of which appears to be dying off. In mature 
leaves the central nerve is not prominent, but in young leaves it is sometimes 
