328 IRIDACEAE. | Lobertia. 
A small genus of 8 or 10 species, found in New Zealand, Australia, and extra- 
tropical South America. One of the New Zealand species extends to Australia and 
Tasmania, the remaining two are endemic. ) 
Leaves 4-4in. broad. Flower-clusters many, panicled. Capsule 
4-4 in. long wf 7 es os 3 -. IL. L. twioides, 
Leaves $-$in. Flower-clusters many, panicled. Capsule $-# in. 
long a mi os a tt: e .. 2. L. grandiflora. 
Leaves ;4-} in. Flower-clusters solitary or rarely 2-3. Capsule 
globose, 4 in. diam. Ve ty * ‘A .. 3. L. pulchella. 
1. L. ixicides Spreng. Syst. 1 (1825) 168.---Rhizome very short. Leaves 
numerous, densely tufted, 1-2 ft. long, ¢-41n. broad, narrow-linear, acumi- 
nate, rigid and coriaceous, striate ; margins cartilaginous, smooth or very 
obscurely and minutely scabrid. Flowering stem longer or shorter than 
the leaves, usually with 1 or 2 cauline leaves below the inflorescence. 
Panicle broad; branches alternate from the axils of membranous sheath- 
ing bracts, bearing subumbellate clusters of 2-10 rather large white flowers 
on long pedicels. Perianth variable in size, 4-lin. diam.; the 3 outer 
segments oblong or elliptic, often greenish on the outside; the 3 inner 
larger and broader, broadly oblong or orbicular, pure-white. Capsule 
broadly oblong or obovoid, 4-4 in. long—A. Cunn. Precur. (1836) n. 307 ; 
Raoul Choix (1846) 41; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 252; Handb. N.Z. 
Fl, (1864) 274; Cheesem. Man, N.Z. Fl. (1906) 699. LL. restioides Klatt 
in LInnnaea, xxxi (1861-62) 383. L. orbicularis Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. 
xv (1883) 329. Sisyrinchium ixioides Forst. f. Prodr. (1786) n. 325; A. Rich. 
Fl. Nouv. Zel. (1832) 161. Ferraria ixioides Willd. Sp. Plant. iti (1800) 582. 
Renealmia ixioides Ker-Gawl Gen. Irid. (1827) 27. Nematostigma ixioides 
A. Netr. Sp. Plant. 11 (1833) 27. 
Var. a.—Bracts all lanceolate. 
Var. 6.—Upper bracts ovate, acute. 
NortH Anp SoutH Isnanps, Stewart IsuaAnp, CHarHam Istanps: Abundant 
from the North Cape southwards. Sea-level to 2000 ft. Tukaukt. October- 
December. 
A very variable plant. Var. 6 appears to be rare in the North Island. 
© eg © 
2. L. grandiflora Sweet Hort. Brit. ed. ii (1830) 498.—Habit of L. iwioides, 
but taller and stouter, 2-3 ft. high, with leaves 4-4in. broad. Flowering 
stem and bracts much as in L. ixioides. Flowers rather larger, the inner 
perianth-segments much larger and broader than the outer, often 3 or 4 
times as large. Capsule much larger, $-3in. long, broadly oblong or 
obovoid, yellow when fully ripe—AHook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 274; 
Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 699. L. macrocarpa Klait in Linnaea, xxxi 
(1861-62) 384. Renealmia grandiflora R. Br. Prodr. (1810) Add. 592. 
NortH AND SoutH Istanps: From the North Cape to Otago, but not so common 
as L. ixioides, October-November. 
But for the great difference in the size of the capsule this might very well have 
been regarded as a variety of L. iwioides. 
3. L. pulchella Spreng. Syst. i (1825) 168.—Small, slender, 3-9 in. high. | 
Rhizome often elongated, sometimes branched at the top. Leaves 2-6 in. 
long, ~;-4 in. broad, grassy, hardly rigid, margins smooth or ciliolate. 
Scape usually longer than the leaves, bearing a single terminal subumbellate 
cluster of 3-8 small white flowers, or in large specimens 1 or 2 other clusters 
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