ort 
52 Contributions from the Gray Herbarium 
Because Kirk took specimens of M.:sarosa Hook. f. of North 
Island to be referable to his species, Cheeseman (I. c.) discarded 
Kirk’s name. But Kirk’s description is evidently drawn from the 
South Island plants, since it does not apply at all to M. saxosa 
but is essentially correct for M. decora. The salient character is 
the short filaments and long anthers, and the description reads 
‘‘ anthers very large, sessile, or nearly so.’’ Since Kirk did not cite 
a type, his name must surely be retained for the plant he describes, 
i.e. the plant of South Island, even though he regarded as the 
same a specimen from North Island, which is M. saxosa. Accord- 
ingly I am making the necessary transfer, M. decora having been 
merely an herbarium name until published by Cheeseman. The 
species is represented in the Gray Herbarium by a specimen which 
comes from the Upper Waimakarisi, Canturbury, Kirk, and is a 
ele of MM, decora. 
Mertensia Meyeriana, spec. nov., flexuosa 2-3 dm. alta; caulibus 
Pita site hirtellis: foliis alternis costa media prominente 
margine adpresse ciliatis, supra brevissime scabrido-pubescentibus, 
subtus glabris paullo pallidioribus viridibus; foliis caulinis inferiori- 
bus petiolatis 1-2.5 em. longis 12 mm. lati tis, basi cuneatis, petiolis 
subalatis margine cbscue ciliatis; foliis superioribus i reduc- 
minusve ctrpillosi 2 mm. longis, post anthesin 3-4 mm. longis 
costa media prominente; corolla 10-14 mm. longa, tubo limbum 
subaequante intus glabro: corollae ee glabris obcordatis; 
stylo 13-16 mm. longo exserto. — Cur Zairansk, western Mon- 
golia, May 20, 1911, F. N. Meyer, no. ‘77 (Typr, Gray Herb.). 
Apparently nearest M. dahurica (Fisch.) G. Don, which, how- 
ever, has linear-lanceolate leaves and very different pubescence. 
It also may be compared to M. stylosa (Fisch.) A. DC., from which 
it is even more distinct especially in the merely subacute leaves and 
not at all villous pubescence. Specimens of these species are in the 
Gray Herbarium. The few Asiatic species described since the 
publication of DeCandolle’s Prodromus all belong to other groups. 
Among American Mertensias, M. Meyeriana suggests, in aspect, 
some of the Lanceolatae, but the long, exserted style is distinctive. 
Mr. F. N. Meyer during the past nine years has collected in eastern 
Asia for the United States government, and although he has been 
primarily interested in plants possessing economic value with a 
