BY W. F. BLAKELY. 401 



6. LOEANTHUS MiQUELii Lehm. Mss. (Plate xlv.) 



Lehm., Plantae Preiss., 1844, 280; Walp., Kept. Bot. Syst., v., 1845-46, 938; 

 Etting., Uber Die Blatts. der Lor., 1871, tab. iii., fig. 10-11, lit. p. 18. 



The following is a translation of the original description : — Glabrous, branchoi 

 terete, leaves opposite or slightly alternate, with long petioles, the lowest obovate 

 or obcordate, tKe remainder linear-lanceolate, slightly falcate, blunt or very ob- 

 tuse, attenuate at the base, one- to three-nerved, the marginal veins purjiKsh. 

 Cymes axillary, solitary, on long peduncles, as long as or longer than the leaves, 

 4— 5-branched, the branches triiiorous. Flowers all pedicellate, supported at the 

 base by a single rounded or navicular bract; calys limb-tnincate or very imper- 

 fectly denticulate. Parasitic on Eucalyptus, York district, 13.3.1839. Herb. 

 Preiss No. 1617. Loranthus pendulus Sieb. (Fl. Nov. HolL, n. 241. DC. Memoir 

 Loranth., tab. i.) is its nearest affinity, but the species nevertheless is very dis- 

 tinct in the leaves and pedicellate, bracteate flowers. Branches vei-y long and 

 pendulous, brownish-gTey, branchlets nodose, terete, turning purple. Leaves 

 somewhat opposite, or many quite opposite, glabrous, coriaceous with purplish 

 margins, petioles long, semi-terete, lJ-3 cm. long, the lower usually obovate or 

 obcordate, 2-4 cm. long, the remainder somewhat obliquely-falcate, lanceolate, or 

 the upper linear, obtuse, contracted into the petiole, 5-9 cm. long, 1^-4 mm. 

 broad, distinctly one- to three-nerved or veiny, the veins somewhat reticulate. 

 Cymes axillary, solitary, the peduncles purple, 2-J-4 cm. long; umbels terete, 4-5 

 branched, 1^- cm. long, the partial cyme triflorous; pedicels 5-8 mm. long. Bracts 

 somewhat rounded under the flowers, concave, earnose, the apex very minutely 

 ciliate. Buds straight, terete-clavate, about 3 cm. long. Calyx obconic-cylindrieal, 

 3-4 mm. long, the limb somewhat dilated-truncate or denticulate. Petals 5, red- 

 dish, linear, the apex subspathulate, dilated, elliptical, concave. Stamens adnate 

 to almost a third of the petals, and about equal to them; anthers linear, at- 

 tenuate at the base, nearly 4 mm. long. Style filiform, slightly exceeding the 

 stamens, angular or sulcate. Stigma yellow, vernicose, subcapitate. 



I have given a full description of L. Miquelii Lehm. as there appeal's to be 

 some justification in recognising it as being distinct from L. pendulus Sieber, 

 notwithstanding that Bentham (B.Fl., I.e.) thought they were the same. 



BotanieaUy, L. Miquelii is an imperfectly known plant and, at the same 

 time, it is the most widely diffused of all the Australian species. I have not 

 seen the type. According to Professor Le Comte, Paxis, it consists of a few 

 leaves and a couple of buds which, he states, do not differ in any way from 

 Drummond's No. 510. I have seen a leaf and bud of No. 510, which matches 

 numerous specimens from Western Australia and other States. It is also identi- 

 cal with L. aurantiacus A. Cunn. It appears to me that L. Miquelii Lehm. was 

 described from a somewhat smaller specimen than L. aurantiacus A. Cunn., but 

 there is not sufficient difference between them, if any, to keep them apart, as 

 there are numerous gTadations without distinctive or stable characters. All the 

 Wlestem Australian specimens that I have seen display the same constancy of 

 (characters with the rest of the material from other States, except a specimen 

 from Coolgardie, which has smaller leaves and buds, and to some extent is re- 

 ferable to X. Miquelii Lehm., varietas Miq., I.e. 



Ettingshausen (Uber Die Blattskelette der Loranthaceen, Tab. iii., Fig. 10, 

 11) depicts two deformed leaves of L. Miquelii Lehm. I'his type of leaf de- 

 formity is common throughout many specimens, not only of this, but of othei 

 species. 



