33 
plants and a profound realisation of their 
extraordinary characteristics than any de- 
scription that can be written. I regret 
that the privilege of making such a visit 
cannot be more generally availed of, but 
Wetherstones is too far distant from popu- 
lous centres to permit of the belief being 
indulged in that many people can hope to 
make the journey. But I must now en- 
deavour, however tmperfectly, to devote 
some space to a description of a few of 
the most striking of the species from an 
inspection of the Wetherstones plants. 
Cupressoides.—The plant I saw was about 
five years old, propagated from a small 
rootlet, and is a finely rounded bush, about 
4ft in diameter. As its distinctive name 
implies, its foliage resembles that of the 
cypress. The branches are numerous and 
divaricating, foliage minute and of a 
greyish green. The flowers are small, and 
lavender or white in colour. The species 
is found in Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago, 
and was originally collected by Hector and 
Buchanan in the DLindis Pass and Lake dis- 
irict, and by Petrie in the Lammerlaws. 
it grows io a height of 6ft or more. 
Salicornicides.—The specimen inspected 
is a  twenty-year-old plant, with a 
height of 2ft 8in. This species is of the 
purest whipcord type, with foliage—or 
what does duty for foliage—entirely differ- 
ent from cupressoides, and of a dull green 
colour. It is very rare, and the plant 
9+ Wetherstones, and one in Dr Hunter’s 
garden at Mornington are the only two 
known to be in cultivation. To these have 
now to be added a young plant in the 
veronica, bed of the writer of these notes. 
Armstrongi!.—A twenty-year-old plant, 2{t 
3in high, foliage dark green on parts of the 
branches shaded from the sun, but where 
exposed to the light and the sun an old- 
gold tinge is a marked and attractive char- 
acteristic. This species is closely allied to 
Salicornioides, but of a more spreading 
habit of growth. It grows in the mountain 
districts from Nelson to Otago. 
Hectori.—Probably the finest and most 
striking of the whipcords. Its strong 
branchlets, stiff and erect, and its bottle 
