Armstrong. — Description ofneiv and rare Neio Zealand Plants. 336 



Art. XLIII. — Descriptio7is of new and rare New Zealand Plants. 



By J. B. Armstrong. 



[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Ganterhunj, \st July, 1880.] 



Clematis marata, J.B.A. 

 A CLIMBING shrub, evergreen, rarely deciduous. -Brfmc/ies extremely slender, 

 forming dense interlaced masses among scrub or grass, hairy or pubescent. 

 BrancJilets extremely slender, dark brownish-green, channelled, clothed with 

 appressed, rather scattered, white hairs. Leaves dark brown in colour, op- 

 posite, trifoliate, 1 inch long, on long pubescent or hairy channelled petioles 

 2-4 inches long ; leaflets ^-1 inch long, ^-J inch wide, narrow-linear, 

 obtuse, pubescent or pilose, simple or three-lobed, or obscurely crenate ; 

 veins very obscure. Floivers sweet-scented, very numerous, greenish-yellow, 

 ^1 inch diameter. Peduncles very silky, one-flowered, 1-8 inches long, 

 arranged in axillary fascicles, each with four small, hairy, lobulate or entu-e, 

 sessile, foliaceous bracts, |-1 inch long, ^-\ vdde. Sepals four, linear- 

 oblong, obtuse ; outside covered with dense silky hairs, and ciliated ; inside 

 puberulous, distinctly veined, revolute at the tips. Petals 0. Stamens 

 12-20, in several series, the two inner series shorter and less perfect than 

 the others. Anthers short narrow, oblong, not tailed. Carpels 10-20. 

 Achenes silky, the styles elongated into feathery white awns. 



Hab. — Canterbury and Nelson ; common. — J.B.A. A very distinct 

 Httle species, readily recognized by its small size and naiTOw leaflets. 

 Ranunculus subscaposus, Hk.f., var. canterhuriensis. 



A small alpine one-flowered herb a few inches high. Roots fibrous. 

 Ste7n very short, erect. Leaves all radical, united by the sheathing bases 

 of their petioles. Petioles very slender, 2-4 inches long, with remarkably 

 broad sheaths, glabrous except a few scattered white hairs. Blade about 

 i an inch long, broadly cuneate, 2-5-lobed, glabrous, coriaceous, lobes not 

 incised. Scape one-flowered, sunk among the bases of the leaves, less than 

 1 inch high, erect, clothed with long, shaggy, white hairs. Flmver |— 1 inch 

 diameter, bright yellow. Sepals 5, oblong, obtuse, membranous, spreading, 

 as long as the petals. Petals 5, oblong, obtuse, with 1-2 much-depressed 

 glands near the base. Stamens very short. Achenes not seen. 



Hab. — Upper Eangitata. — Mr. J. F. Armstrong. A curious little plant, 

 differing from R. subscap>osus in the erect habit, almost glabrous, less deeply- 

 divided leaves, and the lobes not incised, also in the much larger leaf 

 sheaths and slender petioles. The leaves are much smaller and more 

 coriaceous, much less hispid and different in form. I have very little doubt 

 but this will turn out to be a distinct species when more specimens are 

 obtainable. 



