OTAGO INSTITUTE. 



Second Meeting. 28 th May, 1874. 



J. T. Thomson, F.R.G.S., President, in the chair. 



Mr. Thomas Kirk, of Wellington, spoke in terms of commendation of 

 Mr. G. Thomson's paper on the Naturalized Plants of Otago,* which he would 

 have been glad to see more complete, as the list given by the author could 

 scarcely be considered to comprise more than a third of the species already 

 established in the province. Amongst the plants named he observed one or two 

 species, as Bartsia viscosa, etc., not yet collected in other parts of the colony, and 

 the mode of introduction of which it seemed specially desirable to ascertain if 

 possible, as they were plants of local distribution in Europe, and of a character 

 differing widely from the usual naturalized plants in this colony. He regretted 

 to notice that the author had failed to discriminate between such plants as 

 Bellis hypocharis and other species undoubtedly introduced, and such as 



Geranium molle, Polygonum aviculare, etc., which must be held to be 

 indigenous, although their area had been extended by introduction. The 

 greater vigour and consequent rapid increase and abundance of the plants 

 grown from introduced seed at once attracted notice, and in cases of this kind 

 led to the very common error of considering truly indigenous, but naturally 

 unobtrusive, species to have had a foreign origin. He hoped the paper w r ould 

 be followed by others on the same subject, and would suggest that the author 

 might advantageously present specimens of all naturalized plants observed by 

 him to the herbarium of the Otago Museum. This would afford the 

 opportunity of correcting any errors that might occur in nomenclature, from 

 the want of familiarity with exotic plants, in not a few cases of a critical 

 character. Mr. Kirk made some observations on the chief points of difference 

 between the floras of Auckland and Otago. 



1. iC Critical Notes on Dr. Buller's Birds of New Zealand," by Captain 

 F. W. Hutton, C.M.Z.S. (Transactions, Vol. VI., 1874, p. 126.) 



2. " Notes on the New Zealand Hydroideae," by Dr. Millen Coughtrey. 

 (Transactions, p. 281.) 



Sertidaria 



Hutt 



* Read 7th April. See Transactions, p. 370. 



