316 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



Ligusticum pilifei^um {The Bristly Ligusticum). 



Stems 10 in. -20 in. high, reddish-purple. Leaves 3 in. -12 in. long; leaflets 

 6-12 pairs, sessile, J in. -1 in. long, ovate, toothed, 2-3-lobed to the base, margins 

 of teeth tipped with bristles. Umbels 2 in. -3 in. across. Flowers white. 

 Carpels 3-winged or one 5-winged. South Island ; mountainous districts. PI. 

 Feb. -March. 



Ligusticum carnosulum {The Fleshy Ligusticum). 



Leaves and umbels all from the root. Leaflets cut into fleshy lobes 

 :Jiu.-f in. long. Umbels glaucous, compound. Involucral leaves in 3-5 segments. 

 C'arpels 4-ridged. South Island: rare and local. Fl. Jan. 



This is a remarkable shingle-slip plant, which, according to 

 Dials, " shows in the numerous irregular windings of the thick 

 stem, traces of the never ceasing battle with the shingle." 

 Whenever the shoot is buried, it turns again to the nearest 

 point of the surface, and works its way up to daylight. The 

 leaves do not begin to develop until the stem has grown above 

 the accustomed level of the shingle-stream. The stem 

 remains quite naked below. The umbels are so shortly 

 stalked, that the flowers remain within the protection of the 

 foliage, which does not open out until the seed is ripe and 

 ready to escape. The leathery leaves can withstand a 

 considerable rain of shingle, and so great is their flexibility, 

 that Diels compares them to little india-rubber tubes, whose 

 fine division secures the freest mobility to the individual 

 sections. 



Genus Aciphylla. 



Erect, rigid, perennial herbs. Leaves with sheathing bases, pinnate or 2-3 

 pinnate, with dagger-shaped segments. Flowers in long spikes or panicles. 

 Bracts linear. The New Zealand species are all endemic. Besides these, two 

 species are also found in Australia. (Name from the Greek, meaning needle- 

 leiwed). 13 sp. 



The genus Aciphylla is found in New Zealand and Australia 

 only. All the New Zealand species are endemic, and most of 

 them are characterized by long, sword-like, spinous, radical 

 leaves, which form a dense tuft of lance-like spikes, a foot or 

 two in height. The long flower stalks are clothed with 



