PrrRIE.— On the Occurrence of a Species of Hemiphues in N.Z. 855 
Art. LI.—Notice of the Occurrence of a Species of Hemiphues in New 
Zealand. By D. Perrm, M.A. 
[Read before the Otago Institute, 10th February, 1880.) 
Tux following is the generic character of Hemiphues, Hook. fil., translated 
from Hooker's Flora of Tasmania :— 
Fruit ovate, oblique, swollen, one-celled, the meriearps cemented 
together, or one wholly suppressed, crowned by five unequal, deciduous, 
lobes of the calyx limb, without vittæ, five-ribbed, the ribs inconspicuous 
and placed opposite the calyx lobes. Petals five linear, sometimes none ? 
Stamens five. Stylopodia connate, divided into two short erect styles. 
Alpine herbs, densely esspitose, scapigerous, more or less pilose or 
woolly ; the leaves all radical, petiolate, spathulate, quite entire or toothed ; 
scapes short, stout; the umbel simple ; the leaves of the involucre adhering 
and forming a many-toothed cup ; flowers sessile, inconspicuous. 
The plant which I refer to this genus was found in Stewart Island, in 
low boggy situations, in the open land at the head of Paterson's Inlet, and 
in open moist situations ranging in altitude from sea-level to 1,500 feet, to 
the west of Port Pegasus, The character of the habitat agrees entirely with 
that of its Tasmanian congener, Hemiphues bellidioides, Hook. fil. The Tas- 
manian species flowers in October and November, and the New Zealand one 
probably flowers in November and December, as the specimens gathered by 
Mr. Thomson and myself, in the middle of January, had the fruit ripe and 
ready to fall off. 
We had the good fortune to meet with one imperfect and withered flower, 
which exhibited on dissection anomalous characters allied to the Umbelliferz. 
The habit and general appearance of the plant agree very closely with the 
generic description, the only points of divergence being that the leaves are 
not radical but arranged along the stem, while the involucral leaves are not 
adherent except at the base. In Tasmania, H. bellidioides occurs at an 
elevation of 4,000 feet, but the Stewart Island species descends to sea-level, 
as might be expected from the difference in latitude. I propose to designate 
this highly interesting addition to the flora of New Zealand, Hemiphues nove- 
zealandiz. The following description is necessarily very incomplete, as the 
plants were long past flowering when gathered :— 
HEMIPHUES NOVJE-ZEALANDLE, N. 
A densely tufted prostrate perennial herb with bad very slender stems. 
Leaves alternate exstipulate spathulate rather fleshy, glabrous save for a few 
hairs on the margin at and near the tips, base sheathing silky. Scapes 
axillary, i-inch high, with four or five oblong involueral leaves enclosing 
five or fewer flowers. Stylopodia connate conical, at length divided into 
