298 Transactions. — Botany. 



not seen Mr. Blair's specimen from the Five Eivers, but, as he at once 

 identified it with mine from the Dart Valley, I entertain no doubt of his 

 correctness, and have great pleasure in connecting his name with the species. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE XVI. 



1. Fagus blairii. Natural size. 



2. Leaf enlarged. 



3. Involucre. 



4. Nut slightly enlarged. 



Art. XXXVIII.— Notes on the New Zealand Beeches. By T. Kirk, F.L.S. 

 [Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 1st October, 1884.] 

 Fagus menziesii, Hook. f. 

 Hook. Ic. PL, t. 652. 

 Silver Beech. 

 Brown Birch, White Birch, Bed Birch. 

 Silver Birch. 

 Although this species exhibits a considerable amount of variation in the 

 shape, toothing and texture of the leaves, it is the most easily recognized of 

 all the New Zealand beeches, especially when the fruit is fairly developed : 

 the curious glandular scales on the valves of the cupules at once distinguish 

 it from the other species, while they show its close affinity to F. gunnii, 

 Hk. f., of Tasmania, F. moorei, Muell., of New South Wales, and F. 

 betidoides, Mirb., of Cape Horn and South Chili. 



This forms a fine tree, 60'-80' feet high, with a trunk 2 '-3' in diameter, 

 but larger specimens are by no means unfrequent. The twigs are clothed 

 with a fine brown pubescence ; leaves glabrous, rigid, orbicular, or broadly 

 ovate, or rhomboid ovate, shortly petioled, with the margins cut into very 

 short blunt teeth, or more frequently crenate, each crenature being irregularly 

 notched. In the young state the leaves are sometimes deeply toothed, 

 stipules linear-oblong. The valves of the cupule are pubescent and clothed 

 with from 5 to 7 horizontal scales, the margins of which carry a fringe of 

 stalked glands. Nuts trigonous, 3-winged, the wings being divided or fringed 

 at the apex. 



In common with all the local species, the bark varies considerably at 

 different periods of growth. Before reaching maturity, the tree is charac- 

 terized by a thin silvery whitish bark much resembling that of Betula alba, 

 L. This becomes gradually thickened, and rugose, although patches of 



