Piantago. | PLANTAGINACEAE, 853 
or subacute, narrowed into a broad flat petiole, entire or obscurely 
sinuate-dentate, rather thick and fleshy, upper surface densely woolly 
with dirty white tortuous jointed hairs, under-surface woolly or almost 
glabrous. Scapes numerous, erect or inclined, at first much sherter than 
the leaves, but elongating as the fruit ripens, stout, densely tomentose. 
Spike short, 1-5-flowered; flowers small, crowded. Bracts and calyx- 
segments broadly ovate, subacute, glabrous, keel dark, thick and fleshy. 
Corolla-tube equalling the calyx; lobes ovate-lanceolate, acute. Capsule 
exceeding the calyx, broadly oblong, obtuse, 2-celled. Seeds 6 or 7 in 
each cell.—Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 572. 
Var. Petriei—Larger; leaves often 2in. long, thinner, upper surface sparingly 
pilose with jointed hairs. glabrous or nearly so beneath, margins ciliate. Scapes longer, 
usually exceeding the leaves. Perhaps a distinct species. 
South Isnanp: Nelson—Mountains above the Clarence Valley, 7’. F. C.; Lake 
Tennyson, &. M. Laing. Canterbury—J. B. Armstrong. Otago—Lake district, Hector 
and Buchanan! Old Man Range, Hector Mountains, Mount Pisa, Mount Cardrona, 
Petrie ! 4900-6000 ft. Var. Petriev: Mount Kyeburn, alt. 3500ft., Petrie / 
Si The ordinary state of the species is easily recognized by the copious matted 
jointed hairs on the leaves, short densely tomentose scapes, and oblong obtuse 
many-seeded capsule. 
6. P. triandra Berggr. in Minneskr. Fisiog. Sallsk. Lund. (1877) 16, 
t. 4, f. 12-33.—Rootstock short, stout, crown densely clothed with long 
red-brown silky wool, rarely almost glabrous. Leaves numerous, all 
radical, spreading, forming flat rosettes 1-3 in. across, $-2in. long, linear 
or lanceolate, acute, narrowed into broad flat petioles, entire or more 
usually sinuate-dentate or pinnatifid, rather thick or almost membranous, 
more or less pubescent with jointed hairs on the upper surface, the hairs 
sometimes arranged in transverse bands across the leaf, under -surface 
usually glabrous. Scapes very short in the flowering stage, concealed 
amongst the wool at the base of the leaves, often but not always elongating 
in fruit and attaining 4 the length of the leaves or even more, I- or 
very rarely 2-flowered. Bract minute, ovate, obtuse. Calyx-segments 3-4, 
ovate, obtuse, very small, many times less than the ovary. Corolla-tube 
elongated, twice the length of the ovary; limb with 3-4 linear-oblong 
acute lobes. Stamens usually 3, sometimes 4. Capsule oblong, obtuse. 
Seeds numerous, angled, 20-30—Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 573. 
P. Hamiltoni 7. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xi (1879) 465. 
Sours Isuanp, Stewart Isnanp: Margins of lakes and wet ground from West-- 
port and Marlborough southwards, not uncommon. Sea-level to 3500 ft. 
A very curious little plant. It varies considerably in the amount of the silky 
wool at the base of the leaves, and in the hairiness of the leaves themselves, lowland. 
specimens being often nearly glabrous. The length of the fruiting-scape is a very 
uncertain character; on the same plant it may either elongate or remain unaltered. 
7. P. Masonae Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. tui (1921) 424, — 
Rootstock short, stout, putting down numerous thick and fleshy rootlets. 
Leaves many, all radical, spreading, the outer closely appressed to the 
surface of the ground, thus forming rosettes 4-24in. diam., very thick 
and fleshy, greenish blotched with purple, 4-14 in. long, rarely more, ovate- 
or oblong-spathulate to lanceolate-spathulate, suddenly narrowed into a 
broad flat petiole of variable length, towards the apex gradually narrowed 
