164 JOUENAL OF SCIENCE. 



had long been thought possible that tree-ferns might extend to the 

 Snares, but none were observed. The extreme southern limit of tree- 

 ferns therefore is the South Cape of Stewart Island, in S. latitude 

 47° 2CT, instead of 45° 50', as usually stated in our text-books. 



A few naturalised plants have been introduced by the sealere, 

 and four or five indigenous species from the mainland have become 

 established in the Snares by the same agency. 



The total number of Phanerogams and Ferns observed in the 

 island was under thirty, but my visit was too brief to allow of an 

 exhaustive examination being made ; it is not probable that any large 

 number of species will be added. 



Mosses are exceptionally rare ; a few Lichens were observed, but 

 no Fungi or Hepatica?. No opportunity of collecting Marine Alga? 

 was afforded. 



I append a description of the more remarkable species : — 



Ligusticum acutifolium, sp. n. A stout herb 3-5 ft. high, root- 

 stock as thick as a man's wrist. Leaves 2 ft. long or more, 6"-9" 

 broad, oblong, or ovate-oblong, tripinnate ; segments large, acute ; 

 petiole with the upper part of the sheath free, forming a ligule. Stem 

 stout, much branched ; flowers not seen. Fruiting umbels 2'-2-|" 

 diameter, compound, dense ; carpels ■£$" long, exceeding the pedicels, 

 3-5 ribbed. 



Hab. The Snares. 



A handsome species, allied to L. intermedium Hook, f. and L. 

 Lyallii Hook, f., but distinguished from the former by the ligulate 

 petiole, acute segments, smaller umbels, and shorter fruits ; from the 

 latter by the broad segments of the leaves and broad ligulate petiolate 

 sheath ; and from both alike by the absence of viscid, milky juice. 

 The sheathing bracts are leafy at the tips and unusually large, some- 

 times exceeding the flowering branches. 



Aralia Lyallii T. Kirk, var. robusta. — More robust and less hispid 

 than the type. Stolons absent. Petioles flat above, convex below, 

 solid or nearly so ; teeth more strongly mucronate. Flowers smaller, 

 petals shorter, dull yellow. 



Hab. The Snares. 



The typical plant, which is found on Stewart Island and islands in 

 Foveaux Strait, has softer and more hairy foliage ; terete, thin-walled, 

 fistulose petioles ; lurid, purple flowers ; stout stolons as thick as a 

 man's finger, and which are at first erect. No difference is presented 

 in the form of the leaves, the curious tubular ligule at the base of the 

 petiole, nor in the structure of the fruit. 



Deschampsia gracillima, sp. n. — An erect, tufted, glabrous species. 

 Culm very slender, 2 // -5" high ; leaves involute, narrow, almost filiform, 

 sheaths slightly inflated ; ligule entire or lacerate. Panicle %"-2" long, 

 open ; branches few, capillary ; spikelets few, 2-flowered ; outer glumes 

 unequal, 5-nerved ; flowering glumes with a pencil of hairs at the base, 

 ovate, truncate, minutely 3-5-toothed, or else with a short dorsal awn 

 inserted just below the apex ; paler, minutely ciliated ; rachilla silky ; 

 lodicules 3 ; grain free. 



