165 



Olea apetala, Vahl. 



An umbrageous slirub or small tree, 12-25 feet high, branches spreading, 

 often tortuons ; bark brown, in old specimens furrowed and corky ; leaves 

 opposite petioled, 2>"-^" long, V'-2Y wide, ovate, acuminate, very coriaceous, 

 and of a deep glossy green, midrib prominent, veins distinct beneath ; male 

 flower not seen ; female flower in stout racemes, \" to 1^" long, spreading, 

 12-18 flowered, flowers in rather long pedicels ; drujje obscurely deltoid, with 

 rounded sides, apparently larger than in 0. Cwvninghamii, but only two or 

 three old specimens were collected. 



A much smaller tree than 0. Gunningho/mii, and of more spreading habit ; 

 by far the most striking of the New Zealand olives. 



Rocky places near the sea. (Bream Head Vj, Taranga Islands, Great Barrier 

 Island, Nelson Island, Little Barrier Island, T. K. 



Also, on Norfolk Island. 



Gratiola latifolia, R. Br. 



A sub-erect or prostrate herb, stems often rooting at the base, ascending 

 6^-12''' high, glabrous. Leaves sessile, ^"—V in length, amplexicaul, broadly 

 ovate or elliptic, obtuse, irregularly toothed, 3-nerved. Flowers on short 

 peduncles, rather large, calyx ^" long in friiit, segments broadly lanceolate, 

 aciiminate. Corolla white, large, §" long, white, tip shorter than the tube, 

 anthers 2-celled, staminadia elongated, capsule ovoid, obtuse, inflated. 



In marshy places. Puriri forest at Mangawhare, etc. 



Also, ill Tasmania, Australia, and extra-tropical South America, 



This plant is considered by Bentham to be a form of G. Peruviana, L., of 

 which he appeal's to make G. sexdentata, A. Cunn., a variety. G. latifolia 

 appears hitherto to have escaped the notice of botanists in New Zealand, and 

 the points of difierence are of sufficient interest to warrant my drawing the 

 attention of botanists to it. 



We have two forms of G. sexdentata, A. Cunn. (1.) A small erect form, with 

 quadrangular stems and entire, obtuse, ovate, spreading leaves, flowers small ; 

 easily recognized by the pale green hue of the entire plant. (2.) A larger form_, 

 usually prostrate or sub-erect, with serrate, acute, leaves somewhat appressed, 

 and large flowers ; the whole plant of a purplish tint. Our forms are glabrous, 

 but in Tasmania and Australia the various forms are "viscid-pubescent." 



Potamogeton PoligonifoUus, Pourr. 

 P. oblongus, Viv. 



Upper leaves slightly coriaceous, floating \"-Z" long, on rather long 

 petioles, oblong-elliptical, lower leaves linear-lanceolate. SiJike slender, 

 densely flowered. Fruit small, obtuse, rounded on the back. Petioles always 

 leaf-bearing, and longer than the leaves, stem creeping below. Fruit reddish 

 brown. 



