The Species of Xeronema (Liliaceae) 
Lucy B. Moore 1 
Brongniart and Gris (1864*) proposed 
the genus Scleronema to accommodate a spe- 
cies which they named S. moorii in honour of 
Mr. C. Moore, Director of the Botanic Gar- 
dens in Sydney, who had collected specimens 
from the mountains of New Caledonia. The 
name Scleronema was preoccupied (Bentham, 
1862: 109) and within a few months Brong- 
niart and Gris (1864£) substituted the name 
Xeronema and the New Caledonian plant be- 
came X. moorii (spelled moorei by later 
authors). A full and illustrated description of 
this species appeared four years later (Brong- 
niart and Gris, 1868: 2-5, table 1), together 
with a discussion of its affinities. The genus 
Xeronema was considered monotypic until the 
discovery of X. callistemon on cliffs of the 
Poor Knights Islands off the east coast of 
North Auckland, New Zealand (Oliver, 1925: 
383, 1926: 1-3). In 1933 Mr. A. T. Pycroft 
found the new species on Taranga or Hen 
Island, some 30 miles farther south (Cranwell, 
1933: 234-36). Figure 1 shows the geography 
of these locations. 
In drawing up his description of X. callis- 
temon Oliver had at his disposal Brongniart 
and Gris’s 1868 account and figures of X. 
moorei but no direct comparison of specimens 
of the two species seems to have been made 
until recently. In August 1953 Mr. L. J. 
Dumbleton, then of the South Pacific Com- 
mission in New Caledonia, kindly sent early 
and mature flowering stems collected from an 
altitude of 600 to 750 metres on Mont Mou, 
followed in June 1954 by a rooted fan and a 
head of mature capsules still containing a few 
seeds, collected from an altitude of 1,000 
metres on Montagne des Sources on the main 
1 Botany Division, Department of Scientific and 
Industrial Research, Wellington, New Zealand. Manu- 
script received August 10, 1956. 
mountain chain near Noumea. These speci- 
mens confirm that the two species are amply 
distinct though undoubtedly congeneric, but 
there are good distinguishing characters other 
than those emphasized by Oliver. It seems 
worth while to review the differences and at 
the same time to record some further details 
about the New Zealand species. 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
The writer gladly expresses thanks to Mr. 
L. J. Dumbleton for the New Caledonian 
material on which comparisons were based; 
to Dr. W. R. B. Oliver for a copy of Brong- 
niart and Gris’s 1868 paper and figure and for 
other help; to Miss E. K. Pickmere (Mrs. W. 
Reynolds) for careful notes on garden plants; 
to Miss N. M. Adams for the drawings for 
Figure 4. 
COMPARISON OF THE TWO SPECIES 
The two species resemble each other in 
habit, with stiff iris-like bright green leaves 
borne in many short-stemmed fans (Figs. 2, 
3). Leaf bases are very fleshy, making the 
plants drought-resistant, and in both species 
there is a distinct sinus just above the junction 
of sheath and blade; this sinus is not shown 
in Brongniart and Gris’s figure and Oliver 
erroneously listed it amongst distinguishing 
characters of X. callistemon. The stout scape 
with its sheathing bracts carries the horizontal 
raceme well above the leaves. Flowers arise in 
the axils of bracts all round the raceme axis, 
but the pedicels of those on the under side 
elongate and bend upwards so that they are 
"toutes dirigees vers le del.” The inflores- 
cences seen show the same colour range in 
both species, being predominantly and per- 
sistently red (the pollen almost tangerine), 
with gradual change from bright to duller 
355 
