M 28 FLORA ANTARCTICA.
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i ;
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H a b . L o rd A u ck lan d ’s g r o u p ; on b an k s n e a r t h e sea.
In many respects this species is intermediate between the two former, but is equally distinct from botli,
and so nearly allied to the L . scariosa, as to induce me to adopt the name of propìnqua ; it differs from that
plant in its much larger size, more divided leaves and very woolly habit. The genus Leptinella appears to have
been hitherto but little understood by botanists ; it was founded by Cassini in 182*2, upon (apparently very imperfect)
specimens of two plants whose habitat was entirely unknown. In 1841 it was again taken up by the
authors of ‘ Contributions to a Flora of South America, &c.’ (vide Hook. Journ. Bot. vol. iii. p. 325), where a
supposed new species, L . acenoides, H. and Am., is described. This latter is a very common plant in the extreme
south of the American continent, and we have assumed it to be the L . scariosa of Cassini and DeCandolle,
the leaves and peduncle being either smooth or hairy in that plant. ITe re are still some characters described
by the above-mentioned authors as belonging to that genus which my specimens do not exhibit. Thus all the
flowers are stated in one species to be females : I do not find this to be the case ; nor should much stress be
laid upon a peculiarity of structure, drawn from a single capitulum “ dont les fleurs sont extrêmement petites et
défigurées ou altérées par la désiccation et la compression” (Cassini in Diet. Sc. Nat. vol. xxvì. p. 67). In
all the plants of the genus which I have examined, the heads of flowers are monoecious ; but the flowers of the
disc especially, being all males, are, after the performance of their functions, easily displaced by pressure. The
“ long, straight, linear, obtuse, bracteiform leaf ” (Diet. Sc. Nat. 1. c.) at the base of the peduncle is also not
apparent ; nor am I able to conceive to what organ of our plant this can apply, except a young cauline leaf,
generally present near the peduncle, can have assumed such a form or suffered mutilation. On the other hand,
the description of the involucral scales, covered, as are the flowers, with glands, and the characters drawn from
those organs themselves, will, collectively, accord with no other plants that have ever fallen under my notice.
The second described species, L . pinnata, seems hardly to differ from the L . scariosa, except indeed that the
notice of the above-mentioned glands is under it omitted ; but Cassini further mentions the singular character
of the female corolla being “ enflée,” an anomalous structure, upon which I shall here offer a few remarks.
In all the four species of the genus with which I am acquainted, the style of the flowers of the ray is
invested, or sheathed loosely, by a very delicate hyaline tube, marked, in several instances, by distinct slender
nerves, always five in number. This tube enlarges around the swollen bulb of the style and is inserted
underneath it into the apex of the achasnium : a t its summit it meets the inflated corolla, and in the form of
a membrane or tissue completely continuous with it, they together constitute the four obtuse, inconspicuous,
rounded lobes of the corolla. The la tter organ, thus viewed, consists of two distinct membranes, united above
and perhaps below. On first observing this structure in L . piumosa, whose flowers are not furnished with
glands, and whose corolla is, so far as I can detect, entirely nerveless, I was inclined to consider the corolla as
reflected upon itself, the reflected portion entirely investing and concealing the real tube : because I was unable
to trace any intervening tissue connecting tbe two parietes or opposite coats, where an apparent complete vacuity
exists ; and especially because in some allied genera of Cotulee, and in other plants not far removed from
the present genus, the coroDa is reflected, and in a Tasmanian species as much as half-way down its whole length,
its lower free margin being obscurely four-lobed ; and in Otochlamys, DeC., its base is produced downwards so
as to hide a great portion of the achænium. On the other hand, in the three species which are supplied
with glands, it is only the outer surface of the exterior coat of the corolla which is furnished with these organs.
Were this outer membrane the reflected limb of the corolla, the true situation of the glands would be on its
inner surface ; but though appendages of the cuticle are not uncommon on the surface of both ligulate and tubular
flowers of Compositoe, I am not aware of their ever existing on th a t surface. The oblique mouth of these
corollas and the constantly unequal divisions at its apex, of which one is always the largest, seem to point out
the larger tooth as being analogous to the ligula of radiate capitula, especially as one of the four teeth is often
suppressed. Lastly, the five neiwes, which are most evident in L . lanata on tbe inner tube, are not visible on
the outer ; it is very difficult to trace their termination, but they do unite at the summit of the tube, forming
as many arches as there are nerves, apparently without reference to the number of teeth of the corolla, in the
thickened substance of which they are entirely lost. Amongst the discoid groups of Senecionidee, there are many
anomalous structures of the female corollas. Thus, in Strongylosperma. Less., the limb of th a t organ is reduced
apparently to a very short tube, completely continuous with the achænium ; and one of the principal characters
of Soliva, R. and Pav., consists “ in the want of corolla or ” (as Mr. Brown remarks) “ perhaps its accretion
with the persistent style” (vide Linn, T r^ is . vol. xii. p. 101). The original species, L . scariosa, Cass., was
transmitted alive to England from Cape Horn, and is now cultivated in the Royal Botanic Gardens a t Kew,
where it blossoms copiously, and as it increases rapidly and has been widely distributed, I hope th a t the attention
of microscopic observers will be directed to the singular structure of its flowers. Though possessed of no
beauty, it derives an interest from being one of the most Antarctic flowering plants.
The glands, so conspicuous in this and some of the other species, appear to be conglobate and formed of about
four very prominent papÎUæ, confluent at their margins; in this species and in L . scariosa they are transparent,
b ut in L . lanata, after dr}dng, they turn opake and whitish. I observed th a t in the fresh state they contained
no evident secretion or essential oil, nor can they be connected in any way with the peculiar odour which several
of the species possess, as this is inodorous or nearly so, and L . plumosa, which smells strongly, is unprovided
with these organs,
4. O Z O T H A M N U S .
1. OzoTHAMNUS (Petalolepis) Vauv illiersii, H om b r. e t J a c q . ; fru tico su s, foliis p a te n ti-re cu rv is
o b lo n g o -cu aeatis su p ra canaliculatis g lab ris su b tu s ram u lisq u e ju n io rib u s ad p re sse fulv o -tomen to sis
ma rg in ib u s rev o lu tis, corj^mbis te rm in a lib u s c a p ita tis p o ly c ep h alis ram o sis, involucris tu rb in a tis su b -
cylindrace is squamis ex terio rib u s aran eo -tomen to sis in tira is rad ia tis scariosis albidis.— O. Vauvilliersii,
Hombron et Jacquinot in Voy. au P o l S u d , Syc. B o t. Dicot. Phanerog. p i. 5. sine descript.
H a b . L o rd A u ck lan d ’s Is lan d s ; from th e sea to an a ltitu d e o f 3 0 0 -4 0 0 feet, v e ry common.
Also fo u n d on th e h ig h m o u n ta in o f T o n g a riro , in th e N o rth e rn Is la n d o f N ew Z e a lan d , by M r.
Bidwill.
Frutex elegans, 6-8-pedalis. Caulis erectus, validus, 1-2-pedalis, e basi ramosus, cicatricibus dilatatis
foliorum lapsorum notatus, cortice tenui gríseo tectus ; ligno albido tenaci. Rami fascicolati, stricti, erecti,
virgati, 3 -4 ped. longi, inferne cicatricosi, superne ad foliorum insertionem tuberculati, fusco-flavidi, hie illic
pubescentes, cortice lamellato, ramuhs subtomentosis. Folia undique inserta, subdecussata, patentia, recurva,
brevissime petiolata, 4 -6 lin. longa, elongato-cuneata, ad apices rotondata, coriacea, supra canaliculata, glaberrima,
nitida, luride viridia, subtus nervo medio valido subcarinata, dense sed appresso fulvo-tomentosa, marginibus
revolutis integerrimis. Corymèi terminales, capitati, compositi, pluries ramosi, polycepliali, unc. lati,
pedunculis pedicellisque brevibus divaricatis tomentosis. Involucrum %\i \ì 2-3 lin. longum, 3 -4 seriale, squamis
extimis brevibus subcoriaceis rubro tinctis, gradatim longioribus marginibus scariosis, iiitirais radiatis, ungue
elongato erecto scarioso marginibus ciliato-serratis, lamina late ovata obtusa subpetaloidea albida margine un-
dulata, omnia dorso plus minusve araneo-tomentosa. Receptaculum angustum, planum, papillosum, sub 10-12-
florum. Flores involucro breviores, omnes tubulosi, hermaphroditi, tubo gracili elongato quinquefido, dentibus
ovato-oblongis subacutis extus versus apices puberulis ciliatis. Anthere elongatæ, inclusæ, stramineæ, basi
biaristatæ, filamentis supra medium dilatatis. Stylus basi subincrassatus. ramis elongatis linearibus semitere-
tibus intus canaliculatis, apicibus truncatis penicillatis. Pappus 1-serialis, setis scabris inferne nudis imo basi
subconnatis. Achenium obconicum, sulcatum.