228 
LVIII. PLAN TA GIN EA3. 
[. Plantago . 
weak, jointed, soft hairs. Leaves all radical, horizontally spreading, 1-4 in. 
long, spathulate or oblong- or lanceolate-spathulate, fleshy, quite entire or sinu- 
ate or toothed, petioles villous at the base. Scapes several or numerous, vil- 
lous or pilose ; spikes oblong, cylindric, obtuse, dense- and many-flowered* 
7 t— 1 in. long. Bracts and sepals §■ i n - l° n r> ovate, acute, with thick mid- 
rib, pilose and ciliate. Corolla-lobes ovate, acute. Stamens and style mode- 
rately long. Anthers large. Capsule short ; cells 2 -seeded. • 
Northern Island : east coast., near Pahawa, in gravel, rocks, and sand, Colenso. 
Middle Island : terraces and river beds in the Kovvai valley, Haast. The spikes are some, 
times compound. 
5. P. Raoulii, Decaisne ; — FI. N. Z. i. 208. Pilose or almost hispid 
or villous. Leaves all radical, horizontally spreading, 2—10 in. long, rather 
flaccid, linear- or oblong-lanceolate, acute, coarsely irregularly sinuate- 
toothed. Petioles villous at the base Scapes slender, few or numerous, 
pilose. Spikes cylindric, f in. long, obtuse, densely many -flowered. Bracts 
and sepals in. long, broadly ovate, obtuse, glabrous, with broad fleshy 
keel. Corolla-lobes very small. Capsule twice as long as the calyx, acute ; 
cells 2-seeded.— P. varia, A. Cunn., not Brown. 
Northern and Middle Islands : abundant in pastures and waste grounds. This is a 
representative of the common Australian P. varia. 
6. P. Aucklandica, Hook.f. FI. Antarct. i. 65, t. 42. Rhizome fleshy, 
stout, as thick as the thumb. Leaves densely crowded, 1-3 in. long, broadly 
ovate, obtuse, glabrous, fleshy, obscurely sinuate or quite entire, 7-10-nerved ; 
petioles very short, broad, densely villous or woolly at the base. Scapes nu- 
merous, longer than the leaves, very stout, hairy. Spikes 1-6 in. long. Flowers 
small, crowded above the middle of the spike, in scattered tufts below it. 
Bracts and sepals t V~tV i Q - long, broadly ovate, obtuse, glabrous, with broad 
fleshy centre. Corolla-lobes small, linear-oblong. Capsule twice as long as 
the sepals, acute ; cells 1-seeded. 
Lord Auckland's Island : common on the hilltops, in wet places, J. I). H. 
Two European species of Plantago are now naturalized in New Zealand, viz. P. major, 
Linn., with large ovate or subcordate, long-petioled, 5-9-ribbed leaves, and a very long spike ; 
and P. lanceolata, Linn., also a large species, with lanceolate, 5-7-ribbed leaves, and short, 
stout, deuse-flowered spikes. Both are troublesome weeds in pastures. 
Order LIX. NYCTAGINEJS. 
Trees shrubs or herbs. Leaves usually opposite, quite entire, exstipulate. 
Plowers usually hermaphrodite, often panicled. — Perianth tubular or funnel- 
shaped, 5-lobed, persistent, closing over the fruit. Stamens 1 or more, hypo- 
gynous, free or united at the base, equal or unequal. Ovary free, 1-celled ; 
style filiform, stigma lobed or capitate ; ovule 1, erect. Utricle enclosed in 
the hardened perianth-tube. Seed usually loug ; embryo with foliaceous co- 
tyledons coiled round mealy albumen. 
An Order of no great extent or importance, chiefly tropical, containing the common 
garden Mirabilis, or “ Marvel of Peru.” 
