﻿246 Transactions. — Botany. 



subulate ; anthers oblong. Female. — Scape and bracts as in the male; branches 

 much shorter, erect ; flowers crowded ; sessile on very short stout pedicels, 

 glabrous or downy ; perianth segments small, reflexed ; ovary conical, fur- 

 rowed ; style short, divided. Berry three-celled, with a short stout style, 

 partially inclosed by the tube of the perianth, ^" in diameter ; seeds black, 

 1—5 in each cell, sharply angled. 



In marshy gullies, etc., North Island, not unfrequent, T.K. ; South Island, 

 Otago, J. Buchanan. 



Flowers in October ; fruit mature in February, 



Easily recognized by its large size, dark green scape, and flowers, and 

 lobed, orange-coloured berries, partially enclosed in the green perianth tube. 



Shortly before expansion the male flower buds resemble sun-flower seeds in 

 shape, size, and colour. The remarkable development of the bractlets is 

 characteristic of this species; in the male panicle they are often shaggy and 

 flexuose, or contorted ; each branch is usually terminated by a pair of 

 bracteolse, sometimes \" long ; pedicels developed on the ridges of the branches. 

 Fruit deep orange, stains paper ; the perianth becomes reflexed when the berry 

 falls, and is coloured internally. 



A solitary male panicle exhibited a curioiis aberration. One-third of the 

 flowers on the iipper branches had the short segments of the female perianth, 

 with very short filaments and imperfectly developed anthers. 



Astelia trinervia, n.s. 



Stout, tufted ; leaves 2-5 feet long, plaited, broadly recurved, pale 

 green, the strong nerve on each side of the leaves closely supplemented by 

 three others, forming a strong triple nerve. Flowers : Male. — Scape slender, 

 woolly ; branches flexuose and interlaced ; bracts membranous, silky, many 

 nerved ; pedicels slender, but ajDparently stout from being clothed with loose 

 wool ; perianth rotate ; segments lanceolate acuminate ; filaments subulate ; 

 anthers broad, Female. — Scape as in male ; bracts narrower, more leafy 

 than in the male ; branches few, short, erect, silky, or woolly ; segments of 

 perianth erect, narrow, short ; ovary globose. Berry large, globose, deep 

 crimson, three-celled ; stigma sessile ; seeds sharply angled, suspended from 

 the inner angle of the cell ; testa hard ; scape prostrate in fruit. 



In hilly forests, from the North Cape to the Upper Waikato. The most 

 abundant species. Leaves often so closely interlaced as to impede walking. 



Flowers March to April ; fruit mature in February. 



Distinguished from its nearest ally, A. Banhsii, by its green plaited leaves, 

 with triple nerves, prostrate fruit scape, and globose crimson berry. 



The "Kauri-grass," of the settlei's, ascends fi-om the sea level to 2,000 feet. 



I am indebted to Mr. H. Travel's for an inmiature fruited specimen of an 



