132 - GENTIANACEAE, [Gentiana, 
14. G. vernicosa Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 1145.—Perennial ; root 
long, slender, bearing at the top a compact tuft of radical leaves, and 1-5 
stout flowering stems 4-9 in. high, which are decumbent at the base but 
erect above. Radical leaves numerous, crowded, 4-14 in. long, 4-4 in. 
broad, narrow oblong-spathulate or linear-oblong, obtuse or subacute, 
narrowed to a broad sessile base, dark-green, polished and shining, some- 
what concave above, thick and coriaceous, especially towards the tip, but 
becoming thinner at the base. Cauline leaves many towards the base of 
the flowering stems, in distant pairs above, similar to the radical but smaller 
and more acute. Flowers large, white, 4—? in. diam., in 2~-7-flowered 
terminal umbels or corymbose cymes. Calyx 4 the length of the corolla; 
lobes lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acute. Corolla divided 3-way down 
or more ; lobes obovate-oblong, rounded at the tip. Ovary linear-oblong. 
Sourn Istanp: Nelson—Mount Lockett (to the north of Mount Arthur), alt. 
3000-4500 ft., F. G. Gibbs ! February—March. 
I have only three good specimens of this plant, but they all agree in the thick and 
coriaceous polished and shining leaves, which present quite a different appearance from 
those of any other species known to me. 
15. G. bellidifolia Hook. f. in Hook. Ie. Plant. (1844) t. 635.—Perennial ; 
variable in size and habit, the typical form with a stout fusiform root crowned 
with numerous short densely compacted stems, the flowering ones few or 
many, 1-6in. high. Radical leaves numerous, crowded, rosulate, 1-14 in. 
long, spathulate or linear-spathulate, obtuse, narrowed into a short petiole, 
coriaceous or fleshy, nerves usually indistinct. Cauline leaves few, distant, 
linear-oblong to linear-obovate, obtuse, sessile, often recurved. Flowers 
large, white, 2-$in. diam. or even more, terminal, solitary or iy 
2-6-flowered cymes. Calyx 4 the length of the corolla or shorter: 
lobes inear-oblong to elliptic-ovate, subacute. Corolla divided 2-way 
down ; lobes obovate-oblong, rounded at the tip. Ovary shortly stipitate.— 
LT. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvii (1895) 336; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 
(1906) 45; Ill. N.Z. Fl. ii (1914) 140. G. saxosa Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 
(1864) 191 (not of Forst. f.). 
Var. australis Petrie n. var.— Stouter, often forming short dense patches 3-5 in. 
diam. Flowers abundantly produced, large, often quite 1 in. diam. 
NortH AND SoutH Istanps; Not uncommon in mountain districts from the East 
Cape, Taupo, and Mount Egmont to Foveaux Strait. 1500-5500 ft, January— 
March. Var. australis appears to be not uncommon on high peaks on the mountains 
of the western coast of the South Island, from Karamea to Westport. Westland, and 
south-west Otago. 
A very variable and very beautiful little plant. The plate in the ‘ Icones 
Plantarum,’ which must be taken as the type, represents a somewhat small state, with 
solitary flowers, but it is otherwise an excellent representation of the species. Mr. 
Petrie sends me a very curious state, collected on Mount Tennyson, in which the upper 
part of the stem and calyx are coloured dark blackish-purple, but I do not see any other 
differences of importance. . 
16. G, flaceida Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xliii (1911) 255.— Apparently 
perennial ; root stout for the size of the plant, stems single or several 
from the base of the plant, slender, flaccid, undivided, erect, 2-6 in. high, 
furnished on each side with a ridge decurrent from the base of the leaves, 
otherwise smooth and terete. Radical leaves very numerous, 4-1 in. 
long, thin and membranous, flaccid, quite glabrous; blade oblong or 
rd ie 
