205 



therefore, that they are mostly very good and complete. Only a part of them, 

 however, include samples of the fruit, or of any bxit the flowering stage of the 

 plants themselves. 



The first thing to be noted in regard to the Herbarium, is the fact that it 

 is essentially a collection of western 2:»lants, made, I presume, during the expe- 

 ditions of the Geological Survey Staff to the Lake District and West Coast. 

 With the exception of thirteen plants named in one of the lists appended to 

 this paper,'''' all the specimens in the Museum are of sjoecies which occur in 

 (what Mr. Buchanan has called) the western region of the province — i. e., the 

 country lying to the west and south of the course of the Molyneux Eiver. 

 A great majority of the plants which belong to the western region are also 

 found on this side of the province. But a considerable number of those most 

 common in the immediate neighbourhood of Dunedin, are unrepi-esented in the 

 Museum. This fact alone deprives the collection of much of its value for the 

 young botanist, who, however assiduous he may be, cannot at the outset of his 

 studies make any rapid progress without the assistance of a pretty complete 

 collection of the plants he first makes acquaintance with. A still more 

 important point in which the Museum Herbariurd is wanting, is in duplicate 

 specimens. The plants, as at present exhibited, are not available for study. 

 As against these disadvantages, we may congratulate; ourselves that a majority 

 of the rarer plants are represented by beautifully prepared specimens, so that 

 we may hope, in a short space of time, to fill up most of the gaps which do 

 occur, if anjrthing like a proper effort is made. 



Taking the catalogues of Buchanan and Lindsay as representing what is 

 known of the botany of Otago, we shall find that there are 196 j)lants unrep- 

 resented in the Museum Herbarium, In the lists I now present to the Institute 

 I have divided these plants as follows : — Taking first Mr. Buchanan's list as a 

 guide, we find fourteen plants peculiar to the eastern region, thirty-four peculiar 

 to the western region, and 137 common to both regions^ wanting in the 

 Museum. To these I add a further list of eleven plants (making a total of 194) 

 gathered here by Dr. Lindsay, which appear to have escaped the observations 

 of Dr. Hector and Mr. Buchanan. These are neither represented in the 

 Museum nor mentioned in Mr. Buchanan's paper on the Botany of the 

 Province. This fact corroborates what I have endeavoured to impress on my 

 fiiends who are botanists, viz., that there is ample scope for the discovery of 

 new forms in Otago. I may add the fact that there are growing in the garden 

 of my friend, our respected Vice-President, Mr. Beverly, two plants, one from 

 Preservation Inlet, and the other found by himself so near Dunedin as School 

 Creek, which do not appear to have been yet described — which are new, not 

 merely to the province, but to the colony. I mention these facts, because the 



* No lists have beeu forwarded for publication. — Ed. 



