326 Transactions. — Botany. 



with 3 teeth or points, the middle one being the largest and most produced,* 

 usually an additional abortive flower arising from the uppermost bracteole ; 

 pedicels very short and slender included in the bracteoles ; peduncle and 

 sub-peduncles, 1—2 in. long, with 3 imbricated scarious bracts at base. 

 Sepals and petals whitish with a primrose tint of yellow, membranaceous, 

 nearly equal in length, 2 lines long ; sepals erect obtuse, central one ovate, 

 concave, margins entire, lateral obovate, margins irregularly and slightly 

 jagged ; petals a little larger than sepals, ovate-acuminate, obtuse, apiculate, 

 sub-pellucid, strongly 1 -nerved, slightly notched at margin ; lip, sub-mem- 

 branaceous, undulating and crisped, deflexed, 2 lines long, oblong-deltoid, 

 4-lobed, lobes sub-conniving, rotund, margins even, apices erose, sinuses 

 broad, apex of lip deeply emarginate with a small central triangular recurved 

 point or mucro (emarginatus cum acumine) ; colour, pure darkish-yellow (apri- 

 cot colour), with a small blotch of purple-brown at base. Capsule, oblong, 

 obtuse, 4 lines long, 1^ line broad, broadly ribbed and striated, glabrous, 

 purple-brown ; perianth persistent. 



Hab. Among and on rocky boulders of conglomerate, immediate base 

 of the Kuahine mountain range, east side, plentifully, but not in flower, 

 1845, where it grew in dense patches like grass ; also, on open stony 

 acclivities in sub-alpine forests, and epiphytical on trees, near Norsewood, 

 district of Hawke's Bay, 1878-1881 ; flowering in November : W.G. 

 Heights of Mount Kaweka, near Napier, 1882 : Mr. A. Hamilton. 



A species having close affinity with E. mucronata, but it is a much 

 smaller and more graceful plant, with fewer and differently formed 

 flowers. 



Genus 2. Dendrobium, Linn. 

 Dendrobium lessonii, sp. nov. 



Plant epiphytal and terrestrial ; an erect and pendulous, diffuse slender 

 shrub, often much-branched ; branches 6 inches to 4 feet long, wiry, terete, 

 hard, and brittle ; main stems -J- of an inch in diameter ; colour of stems 

 and branches, some darkish-umber-brown, and some bright yellow, glossy 

 and horny, ringed with dark scar-like joints, £-1 inch apart, under the dry 

 scarious sheathing leaf-bracts, which long remain. Leaves, alternate, f-lj 

 inch long, 1-2 lines broad, 3-6 lines apart, sub-linear-lanceolate, or sub- 

 ovate-acuminate, broadest near base, sessile, spreading, often falcate and 

 twisted, coriaceous, semi-rigid, smooth not glossy, pale or yellowish green, 

 margins entire, obscurely 10-nerved, midrib sunk and obsolete, somewhat 

 concave, suddenly slightly thickened on the under side 1-3 lines from apex, 

 with a slight corresponding notch in each side, tip obtuse, vaginant, sheaths 



* This, however, is best seen on the maturation of the fruit, as the bracteole enlarges 

 with it, and assumes a sub-calycine cup-shaped form. 



