T. Kirk.— On the Punui of Stewart Island. 29$ 



gome particular gravel bed or some condition of soil or moisture. In some 

 places it is restricted to a strip a few yards wide, but extending lengthwise, 

 following the same level round the little elevations of the plain. It grows 

 in some places very luxuriantly ; fronds 6-8 inches high. 



L. tricJwmanoides occurs in the Longwood Eanges, but is very rare. I 

 have only seen one specimen — brought in by a surveyor, who took it for a 

 maiden -hair fern. 



Geranium, sp. 



A Geranium with pure azure blue flowers occurs on the hill of the New 

 Eiver Heads. I cannot distinguish this species in other respects from G. 

 molle, Linn., except that it has much heavier foliage. I have sent specimens 

 to Mr. Kirk, but have not yet received his reply. 



Aet. XXXVI. — On the Punui of Stewart Island, Aralia lyallii, n. s. 



By T. Kirk, F.L.S. 



[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 9th July, 1884.] 



Plate XVII. 



The Punui, one of the most striking plants in the New Zealand flora, was 



discovered by Dr. Lyall in 1848, and referred by Dr. Hooker* to Aralia 



polaris, Homb. and Jacq., discovered by those botanists on the Auckland 



Islands in 1839. Subsequently Dr. Hooker's suggestion that Aralia polaris 



might form a new genus to be termed Stilbocarpa was carried out by 



Decaisne and Planchon, and in the Handbook of the New Zealand Flora 



published in 1864, the Auckland and Stewart Island plants are included 



under the description of Stilbocarpa polaris, Decn. & Plan., the author 



stating that Lyall's plant wants the long bristles which are so characteristic 



of the Auckland Island plant, and might belong to another speciesf. 



For the sake of conciseness, in the following paragraphs the native 

 name punui will be restricted to the Stewart Island plant ; the generic 

 name Stilbocarpa to that from the Auckland Islands. 



Until recently so little has been known of the flora of Stewart Island 

 that, notwithstanding the botanical interest attached to such a remarkable 

 plant as the punui the material for determining its precise relationship to 

 Stilbocarpa has not been available ; no specimens were to be found in our 

 Herbaria, no plants in our botanic gardens. In 1878 a fine living specimen 



* Fl. N.Z. L, p, 95. t Handbook N.Z. Flora, p. 100. 



