﻿1*3 



the margins crisped and spinulose. Aehenes longitudinally ribbed, 



Sir Joseph Hooker considers the variety /?. to be truly indigenous 

 in New Zealand, as it was collected by Banks and Solander. It is, 

 however, certain that seeds of both forms have been repeatedly 

 introduced, and in all probability intercrossing has frequently 

 occurred, as fruits of the typical form vary greatly in the degree of 

 murication which they exhibit ; in many instances it is very faint, 



The Rev. W. Colensof^R.S., considers the typical form to be 

 the puwha of the Maoris, who formerly used it for food, but have 

 abandoned it for the introduced European plant, which is less 

 bitter. 



There is, however, a striking indigenous form, which I now 



y. littoralis, n. var. Erect, 1-2 ft. high, sparingly branched, 

 robust; radical leaves rosulate, sessile, ovate, entire or lobulate, 

 obtuse, toothed. Cauline leaves few, acute, with rounded or sub- 

 acute auricles. Outer involucral bracts acute, inner broadly 

 rounded. Aehenes glabrous ; ribs spreading. 



Hab. On maritime cliffs; from Auckland to Stewart Island, 

 but rarely in great abundance. 



The uniformly undivided rosulate leaves, which are somewhat 

 fleshy, the more robust habit, and copious milky juice, are well 

 worthy of notice. The absence of variation is a remarkable feature 

 when the plant is compared with the typical form and var. asper. 

 I have never met with it in cultivated land, and, so far as known to 

 me, it is absolutely restricted to maritime habitats. 



It seems not unlikely that the plant collected by Banks and 

 Solander may be this var. littoralis; the fruits resemble those of 

 var. asper, but are rather larger. This point might perhaps be 

 settled by an examination of the specimens in the Banksian 

 Herbarium, although dried Sonchi are usually imperfect, and not 

 easily recognised.* It is worthy of note that Dr. Anderson, who 

 acted as naturalist to Cook's third expedition, mentions the occu^- 



probability the plant collected by him was my var. littoralis. 



Shortly before leaving New Zealand, my old friend Mr. J. D. 

 Enys visited the Chatham Islands, where he obtained fine leaves of 

 a bonchus, over two feet in length, together with large flowers, 

 which he kindly sent to me, but unfortunately they arrived in such 

 a bad state of decay that I was unable to dissect the flowers. How- 

 ever, on examining the type-collection of Chatham Island plants in 

 the Colonial Museum, I found two specimens, one of which was S. 

 oleraceus L., the other on examination proved to be the plant dis- 

 covered by Mr. Enys. In justice to Mr. Buchanan, who arranged 

 the collection, it must be mentioned that both specimens are mere 



al°so b tellies.— Ed^oubn^Bot. 7 ] referred t0 mpe ' ' VVhl ° h the A ' P 



