666 UMBELLIFERAE. [ Aciphylla. 
or obovate-cuneate when spread out, 3-pinnatisect ; primary divisions 4-5 
pairs, suberect, closely placed, often overlapping; ultimate segments 
linear, 3-IZin. long, 74-$in. broad, rigid and coriaceous, gradually 
tapering into an acuminate pungent point, joimted at the base, striate, 
midrib canaliculate ; margins thickened. Petiole as long as the lamina, 
stout, smooth and convex on the back, deeply concave in front. Sheaths 
equalling the petiole in length, much expanded and membranous at the 
base, deeply grooved, narrowed towards the top, and produced on each 
side into a long slender spine. Flowering stem exceeding the leaves, tall, 
stout, often 4in. diam. or more, grooved, naked. Male and female in- 
florescence much alike in size and shape, forming a globose head 2-4 in, 
diam. Lower bracts often forming a kind of involucel at the base of the 
panicle; sheaths large, broad and membranous, tipped with 3 long 
subulate spines. Peduncles of the male umbels 4-2 in. long, females about 
$ the length; rays numerous, spreading, slender; involucral bracts linear. 
Fruit $in. long, linear-oblong, carpels equally 5-winged, or one 5-winged 
and the other 4-winged.—A. Monroi var. divisa Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. 
Inst. xlvii (1915) 40. 
SoutH Istanp: Probably not uncommon in the higher mountain districts of 
Canterbury and Otago. Mount Cook district, abundant on the mountains flanking 
_ the Hooker and Tasman Valleys, 7. F. C., Cockayne! Petrie! A. Wall! Otago— 
Mountains near Lake Wakatipu, J. Speden! W. H. Thomson! Garvie Mountains, 
Poppelwell! Mount Bonpland, Petrie; mountains above Lake Harris, Cockayne / 
3500-5500 ft. December—February. 
In my “Notes on Aciphylla”’ (Trans. N.Z. Inst. xlvii (1915) 42) I treated this 
as a variety of A. Monroi. But further study of the genus has convinced me that the 
differences between it and the original type of the species (which I have figured in the 
“ Illustrations of the New Zealand Flora’’) are far too great to allow such a course 
to be taken. The many plants included by Hooker in the Handbook under the name 
“ Monroi”’ are, in my opinion, best treated as follows: 1. Leaves simply pinnate : 
A. similis. 2. Leaves sparingly bipinnate at the base: A. Monroi (type of the species). 
3. Leaves 3-pinnatisect, ultimate segments linear: A. divisa. 4. Leaves pinnatisect, 
ultimate segments almost filiform : A. multisecta. 
14. A. multisecta Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xlvii (1915) 43.— 
Densely tufted, stout and rigid, forming clumps 9in. diameter and 
9-14in. high. Rootstock stout, sometimes divided above, clothed at the 
top with the remains of the old leaves. Leaves very numerous, “20-40 
or even more, densely crowded, suberect, 5-9 in. in total length: lamina 
24-4 in. long, obovate-cuneate when spread out, rigid and coriaceous, 
tripinnatisect ; primary divisions 4-6 pairs, suberect, closely placed and 
partly overlapping; secondary similar but smaller and fewer; ultimate 
divisions very narrow-linear, 1-14 in. long, =4,in. broad, coriaceous, striate, 
narrowed into a short pungent point. Petiole as long or longer than the 
lamina, very stout and rigid, smooth and convex on the back, deeply 
concave in front, with the margins much thickened and rounded. Sheaths 
13-2 in. long, 3-1in. broad at the base, 4in. broad at the top, rigid and 
coriaceous above, gradually becoming thin and membranous towards the 
base, on each side at the top produced into a stiff and rigid pungent- 
pointed spine 1-1?in. long. Female inflorescence alone seen. Peduncle 
exceeding the leaves, very thick and _ stout, 3-}in. diameter, grooved, 
bearing towards the top numerous compound umbels forming a dense 
globose panicle 3-34 in. diameter. Lower bracts 2-24 in. long, composed 
of a broad and thin membranous sheath 31n. across tipped with a pin- 
natisect leaflet lin. long or more. Primary umbels 6-8, peduncles 1-1} in. 
