n
12 FLORA OF NEW ZE.VLAND,
Gen. IV. CALTHA, Pers.
Sépala 5, colorata, petaloidea. Peíala 0. Stamina 00. Ovaria 5—10. Carpella compressa,
patentia, 1 -locularia, 00-sperma.
Hitherto this genus, though found in Cliüi and Fuegia, was unknown in the southern hemisphere of the Old
TVorld. Several species are common to Europe and North America, two are found in the Himalaya Mountains,
and three others in the southern extreme of America. None have been discovered in Van Diemen’s Land. The present
species is an instance of the similarity that exists amongst the productions of the opposite temperate
regions. It is distinguished from Ranunculus most obviously by its many-seeded carpels. (Name from KaXaOoi, a
cup, wliich the flowers of the European species resemble.)
1. CúÚíQ. Novoe-Zelandiæ, Hook., iii. \ pusilla, foliis longe petiolatis late oblongis integerrimis v. obscure
sinuato-crenatis profunde sagittatis appeiidicibus sursum inflexis apice rotundatis emarginatis v. bi-
lobis, scapo 1-floro, sepalis 5-7 deciduis linearibus, staminibus 00, carpellis sub-7, semiuibus plurimis.
Tab. VI.
Ha b . Northern Island. Tops of tbe Ruabine Mountains, Colenso.
A small succulent herb, ^vitb radical spreading leaves, and a single one-flowered short erect scape. Petioles
stout, 1-3 inches long, with broad membranous sheathing bases ; lamina 4-1 inch broad, oblong or
almost fiddle-shaped, deeply cut into two inflexed lobes at the base, the apex rounded, notched, or two-lobed.
Flowers yellow, 4-1 inch broad. Sepals five to seven, linear, rather acute. Stamens numerous. Ovaries about as
mauy as the sepals, broadly ovate, gibbous, with a hooked short style and many ovules.—In foliage this is most
nearly allied to Caltha sagittata of Fuegia, and in its curious long petals to C. appendiculata of the same country ; it
is, in fact, intermediate between these species.—P l a t e VI. Fig. 1, flower; 3, sepal; 3, stamen ; 4, ovary; 5, liead
of carpels ; 6, capsule :—all hut fig. 5 magnified.
N at. O rd . II. MAGNOLIACEÆ, DC.
Gen. I. DRIMYS, Forst.
Carpella baccata, polysperma. Filamenta apice incrassata, antherarum loculis discretis.
The only New Zealand species forms a small evergreen slender tree, 10-30 feet high, with black bark;
branching at the top and leaiy ; very aromatic and peppery in all parts ; growing generally in dense forests. Leaves
variable in size, 1-6 inches long, elliptical-ovate, blunt, on short petioles, quite entire, bright green above, purplish
or glaucous below, midrib hairy at the back. Flowers small, axillary or from scars on tbe branchlets, solitary or
two or three together ; pedicels 1-4 lines long, slender. Calyx, a three- to six-lobed disc. Fetals six, unequal,
Unear, 2-3 lines long. Stamens eight to ten, in several series. Ovaries about three, sessile, one-celled, with several
ovules. Fruit of one to three berries ; each as large as a pepper-corn, containing five to six angled seeds. (Name
from bpiy.vs, pungent)
1. Drimys axillaris, Forster. DC. Prodr. v. 1. p . 78. A. Rich. Flora. A. Cunn. Prodr. Hook.
Ic. Plant, t. 576. D. colorata, Raoul, Choix de Plantes, p . 24. t. 23.
Hab. Throughout tbe islands; abundant in forests, Forster, etc. Fl. November, Fr. May, June.
Nat. name, “ Horopito," Colenso. (Gult. in England.)
The nearest aUies of this plant are the D. Winteri (or Winter’s Bark) of Fuegia, and the Tasmannia aromatica
of Van Diemen’s Land, which are its representatives in those countries respectively. All are highly aromatic,
whence the medicinal use of the B. Winteri as a stomachic and antiscorbutic (Fl. Antaret. vol. ii. p. 229), and the
economic value of Tasmannia, which was used as pepper by the early colonists of Van Diemen’s Land. Í cannot
distinguish the B. colorata of M. Eaoul from Forster’s plant.
N at. O rd . III. CRUCIEERyE.
Gen. I. CARDAMINE, Linn.
linearis; valvis planis subenemis, smpe elastice desilieutibus. Semina ovata, iramargiuata;
cotyledonibus accumbentibus.
Slender herbs, with small white flowers, and long narrow many-seeded pods, having sharp styles and faintly
veined elastic valves. They taste strongly of cress, and one [C. hirsuta) makes a good salad. The genus is abundant
in all temperate cbmates: many beautiful species inhabit Tasmania. (Name from Kapbia, the heart, and hapaa, to fortify;
from its stomachic properties.)
1. Cardamine hirsuta, Linn. Fl. Antaret. v. 1. p. 5, and v. 2. p . 232. C. debilis. Banks et Sol. DC.
Prodr. A. Rich. Flora. A. Cunn. Prodr. Sisymbrium heterophyllum, Forster, Prodr. p . 64.
H a b . Most abundant throughout the islands, Forster, etc. Nat. name, “ Panapana," Colenso.
This common New Zealand species is abundant all over tbe world except in tbe hottest climates, and extremely
variable eveiywhere; its distribution is dwelt upon in tbe ‘ Flora Antarctica,’ thougb I there left it doubtful whether
the New Zealand plant was the same as C. hirsuta of Europe, etc.: I am now sure it is so, being unable to trace any
distinction, however slight, between tbe common New Zealand and Scotch form. And I also now consider the Lord
Auckland Group C. corymbosa to be a mere variety of the same.
In its common form, this is a weak straggling plant 12 to 18 inches high, branching below, smooth or hairy,
with unequally pinnate leaves; the lobes in two to eight pair, rounded or oblong, entire, sinuate or lobed, sessile or
stalked, crowded or remote. Flowers white, seldom above 2 hues across. Pods slender, ■|—14 inch long, tapering
into a short style. Seeds rich yellow-brown.—The ‘English Botany’ figure (t. 492) represents exactly a very
common New Zealand state, with oblong sinuate-dentate pinnules; the var. sylvatica of Europe is most common
on the Middle Island: var. ß, subcarnosa, of Fl. Antarctica, is found iu humid places. Mi\ Colenso has collected
a veiy stunted form, an inch or so high, with rarely more than one lobe on the leaf and a one-flowered stem. On
the whole, perhaps, the plant is best recognized by its taste of cress.
2. Cardamine divaricata, Hook, fil.; elata, erecta, subramosa, glaberrima, foliis inferioribus saltern
petiolatis lineari-oblongis subacutis integerrimis sinuato-dentatisve rarissime subpinnatifidis supremis sessilibus
hastatis, floribus albis (luteisve ?) mediocribus, siliquis patentibus strictis linearibus in stylo attenuatis,
valvis venosis, seminibus parvis compressis rufis punctatis. Sisymbrium divaricatura. Banks et Sol. Herb,
et Ic.
H a b . Northern Island. Oporaga, Banks and Solander. Auckland, Sinclair, Lyall. Bay of Islands,
A. Cunn. Nat. name, “ Matangoa," Hügel.
A smooth slender plant, two to three feet high, sparingly branched and leaved. Leaves two to four inches
long, all, or the lower only, with petioles which sheath at the base; upper sessile and hastate; all of them linear-
oblong, waved or toothed at the margin, rarely more cut, and abnost pinuatifid. Flowers white in some specimens,
and iu Banks’s collection of drawings and other dried specimens yellowish; two to three bnes broad. Pods numerous,
spreading, 1-14 iucb long, half a line broad, pedicellate, straight, flat, rather suddenly tapering into a straight
slender style, one to two lines long; valves veined. Seeds compressed, oblong, small, of a pale rich yellow-browu
colour, deeply pitted. Very closely albed to Cardamine stylosa, DC. [Arabis gigantea. Hook. Ic. Plant, t. 259),
and only distinguished by its smaller size, and much smaller seeds, which are of a different colour, and less deeply
pitted. In Herb. Cunn. this plant is referred to Sinapis tenuifolia, and Baron Hügel is given as authority for
the native name.