208 XXXIV. UMBELLIFERAE. [Aciphylla. 



irregular, crowded in the axils of dilated linear-oblong bracts, with 5-partite or 

 rarely pinnate spines. Male : primary peduncle ] in. —Sin. long, with 1 or more 

 simple umbels at the base ; rays 6—12, very unequal. Involucral bracts narrow- 

 linear, acute; flowers densely crowded. Female: smaller and shorter; rays 

 about 3, with few flowers on very short pedicels ; bracts shorter and broader. 

 Fruit broadly oblong. Carpels, one 4- winged, the other 3-winged. — Hook., 

 Ic. PI. t. 607, 608; Hook, f., Fl. N.Z. i. 87; Handbk. 92. Ligusticnm 

 Aciphylla, Spreng. in Schult. Syst. Veg. vi. 554; DC, Prod. iv. 159; A. Rich., 

 Fl. Nov.-Zel. 274; A. Cunn., Precurs. n. 505. Laserpitium spinosinsimwm.. 

 Banks and Sol. MSS. and Icon. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands: from the East Cape to Southland. Sea-level to 3,300ft. 

 Kuri-kuri. Spear-grass. Oct. to Jan. 



Var. flaccida. Smaller and more slender. Leaves softer. 3-pmnate ; sheath broader, some- 

 times 2in. wide or more; segments narrower, more crowded. Bracts spreading, never refracted. 

 Ruahine Mountains, Howlett ! 



The spines at the mouth of the sheath are usually developed into pinnate leaflets. 



3. A. crenulata, J. B. Armst. in Trans. N.Z.I, xiii. (1880) 336. Erect, 



1ft.— 2ft. high, similar to A. squarrosa but smaller, green or red, shining when 



fresh. Stem furrowed. Leaves 6in.— 12in. long, pinnate ; leaflets in 1—3 pairs, 



spreading, y^gi'^-^A^'^- broad, pungent when fresh; midrib red ; sheath of 



petiole short and broad, with 2 spines at the mouth. Male umbels as in 



A. squarrosa, but smaller, spreading; peduncles and rays slender; spines of 



bracts not refracted, lowest sometimes nearly equalling the scape, 3-partite. 



Female partly hidden in the sheath of the bracts, shorter and more compact ; 



rays 1—3, unequal, with pedicellate flowers in the axils, 2— 6-flowered. Fruit 



short, oblong. Carpels 4-winged or one 3-winged ; vittae obscure ; styles 



very short. 



SOUTH Island : Canterbury : source of the Eakaia, J. B. A. ! Waimakariri glaciers, Enys 

 and ffiWc. Browning's Pass, Haasi .' 2, SOOfc. to 4,500ft. Dec, Jan. 



This plant appears to be partfally confused with A. Lyallii in the Handbook, and has been 

 mistaken by local botanists for that species, but is easily distinguished by its leafy scape, longer 

 leaf-segments, and 4-ribbed carpels. 



4. A. Traversii, Hook. /., Handbk. 729. Slender or robust, 6in.-30in. 

 high. Stem 2in. in diameter, furrowed in large specimens. Leaves 4iii.— 30in. 

 long, equally or unequally pinnate; leaflets in 1-3 pairs, 2in.-12iii. long, Jin.— 

 Jin. broad, narrow-linear, acute, coriaceous, pungent, striated and trans verselv 

 articulated ; petioles sometimes Ift. long, with two short spines at the mouth of 

 the sheath. Umbels very numerous, usually solitary in the axils of opposite or 

 verticillate dilated bracts, each tipped with a simple or 3-fid subpungent leaflet. 

 Flowers polygamous. Male: lin.-5iu. long, irregular; rays unequal, iin.- 

 lin. long; involucral bracts very small, linear, acute; calyx-teeth miniite, 

 acute. Female : fewer, on shorter peduncles, usually intermixed with male; 

 rays very unequal, with a few pedicellate flowers in their axils ; pedicels shorter 

 than the narrow-linear oblong fruit. Carpels narrow-linear, 3-wiuged, or one 

 4-winged with 2 intermediate ridges ; vittae 3 on the commissure. — Ginqidium 

 Traversii, F. Muell., Veg. Chath. Isds. 18. 



