260 
LXXV. CONIFER. 
[. Fliyllocladus . 
2. P. alpinus, Iluok. f. FI. N. Z. i. 235. t. 53. A small, very rigid, 
densely-branched shrub or small tree, sometimes 2 feet diam. Leaves very 
much thicker, smaller and more coriaceous than in F. trichomanoid.es, some- 
times linear-oblong and only % in. long, often glaucous below. Nuts at the 
base of the phyllodes, small. 
Northern Island : Tongariro, Bidmll ; Ruahine range, Colenso. Middle Island : 
Nelson, alt. 6000 ft., Bidwill ; Wairau mountains, alt. 4-5500 ft., Travers, etc.; alps of 
Canterbury, Sinclair and Haast ; alt. 2300-5000 ft. ; Otago, Hector and Buchanan. Per- 
haps only a form of B . trichomanoides , but a very distinct one. Also verj r closely allied to 
the Tasmanian P. aspleniifolia. 
Class II. MONOCOTYLEDONS. 
Order I. OECHIBEiE. 
Herbs, sometimes almost shrubby, either terrestrial with tubers or bulbs, 
or epiphytes with leafy branches, which are often thickened and called pseudo- 
bulbs. Leaves sheathing at the base. Flowers braeteate, extremely various, 
often beautiful, hermaphrodite. — Perianth superior, of 6 pieces in 2 series, 3 
outer ( sepals ) usually nearly equal ; of the 3 inner 2 are lateral ( petals ) ; and 
the innermost {lip) is either largest or differs in shape, direction, or surface ; 
it is sometimes superior (or posticous), at others inferior (or anticous). Axis 
of the flower occupied by a column facing the lip, consisting of a stamen com- 
bined with the style and reduced apparently to 2-8 masses of pollen contained 
in a fixed or moveable, deciduous or persistent cap-like anther ; pollen co- 
hering in 2-8, often pyriform, waxy or granular masses, often attached 
in pairs by a caudicle to a gland, which is easily detached from the tip {ros- 
tellum ) of the column. Ovary inferior, 1-celled ; stigma a glandular depres- 
sion or swelling ou the front or base of the column, opposite the lip ; ovules 
very numerous on 3 parietal placentas. Capsule 1-celled, 3-valved, many- 
seeded. Seeds very minute, light, with loose reticulated testa, and a solid 
embryo. 
A very extensive Older, abounding in beautiful plants, the flowers always of curious struc- 
ture. Theoretically the flower consists of 15 parts: viz. 3 sepals; 3 petals; 3 outer sta- 
mens, opposite the sepals, of which, that answering to the sepal opposite the lip is aloue de- 
veloped (the other 2 being suppressed and confluent with the lateral veins of the lip) ; 3 
iuner stamens all suppressed, of which 2 are theoretically confluent with the sides of the 
column, and the 3rd with the midrib of the lip) ; lastly, 3 stigmas, of which, that opposite 
the lip is aloue developed. The correctness of this theory is supported by the presence of 2 
lateral appendages which represent undeveloped stamens on the sides of the column of such 
genera as Thelymilra, Prasophyllum, etc., and by three crests or ridges on the lip, repre- 
senting as many others (as Chiloijlottis ) ; also by the arrangement and direction of the vas- 
cular bundles in the ovary, column, and perianth. For the development of this view, and 
an account of the wonderful processes by which fertilization is effected in this Order by in- 
sects, see Darwin’s work ‘ On the Fertilization of Orchids.’ 
