T. KiEK. — Dcscripiions of Kciu Plants. 4d3 



diameter, liave been clestroyccT by fire every year in tlio process of clearing. 

 This has arisen from the difficulty of conveying the timber by land, water- 

 carriage not being available as in the case of the kam-i ; so that rimu, the 

 cheap timber of the south, could only be obtained in Auckland at a higher 

 rate than kauri, and as kauri has the advantage of being more easily worked 

 than rimu, the latter has been rarely used by the cabinet-maker, notwith- 

 standing the advantage it possesses in colour and " figure." But, since tho 

 construction ef the Waikato Kailway, I am assured that a change has taken 

 place in this respect. Eimu is abundant at Drury, Ptikekohe, Pokenoe, 

 and other places along the line, and the settlers have taken advantage of 

 the facilities for carriage placed at their disposal — they have converted their 

 rimu into boards instead of burning it, and rimu furniture is much more 

 common in the workshops of the Auckland cabinet-makers than was tho 

 case prior to the formation of the railways. We may fairly expect that 

 similar results will take place with regard to other neglected products. 



Aet. LSXVI.— D«cryji/o7JS of Xciv Plants. By T. Kibk, F.L.S. 

 [Read before the Wellington PldlosoTphical Society, \st March, 1879.] 



CoMPOSITjE. 



Olearia nleifolia. 

 A MUCH branched shrub 5 to 8 feet high; branchlets crowded, strict, 

 ascending, angular, clothed with short velvetty pubescence ; leaves 2" to 3" 

 long, y to V' ^vide, coriaceous, shortly petioled, narrow lanceolate, acute, 

 erect, minutely reticulated above, white beneath with matted appressed 

 hairs forming an even surface, veins obscure ; corymbs on slender pedun- 

 cles twice as long as the leaves ; heads numerous on slender pedicels, 

 involucre narrow, ^ to ^" long, cylindrical, scales few, inner membranous, 

 linear, ciliated, pubescent ; florets 4-5, two or three with a broad obovats 

 ray ; pappus hairs white, scabrid at the tip ; achenc furrowed silky. 



Hah: South Island— Ashburton, T. H. Potts! Eangitata, 4,000- 

 6,000 feet, J. F. Arinstronrj ! Preservation Inlet, Otago, .7. D. Enys ! 



For my first knowledge of this plant, I am indebted to Mr. Potts, who 

 showed me specimens under cultivation several years ago, and expressed his 

 belief in its specific distinctness, although he had not seen flou-ers. A 

 living plant kindly given mo by Mr. Armstrong in 1873 flowered for tho 

 first time in February, 1878. Its affinities are with 0. avicennuifuUa and 

 0, albida, from both of which it is distinguished at sight by its strict habitj 



