Y
I
ELORA OF NEW ZEjUjAND.
Gen. I I . N A S TU R T IUM , B r .
[Cruci
Siliqua teretiuscula, abbreviata, curvata v. declinata. Stigma siibbilobum. Calyx patens, basi jequalis.
Semina irregulariter biseriata, im m a rg in a ta ; cotyledonibus accumbentibus.
Leafy branching shrubs, witli dentate or pinnatifid leaves, small yellow or white flowers, and puugent taste.
The pods are patent or reflexed, short and curving, with the seeds in two rows in each division. The genus is
found chiefly in tbe temperate climates of both hemispheres, and the New Zealand species is found in many other
parts of the world. (Name from msus tortus, a twisted nose, some acrid species causing sneezing.)
1. N a s tu rtium terrestre, B r .; suberecta, glabra v. pilosa, foliis integris pinnati-lobatisve plus minusve
auriculatis, lobis confluentibus sinuato-dentatis, petalis flavis calycem ajquantibus, siiiquis brevibus tu rg id is
oblique oblongis, pedicellis gracilibus lequilongis in stylnm brevem abrupte contractis, seminibus plurimis.
Engl. Bot. t. 1747. N . palustre, DC. N . sylvestre, A. Rich, et A . Cunn. non B r . Sisymbrium
pilosum. B a n k s et Sol. M S S . N . semipinnatifidum, Hook. Journ. B o t. v. p . 246.
H ab. N o rth e rn and Middle Islan d s, n o t uncommon; Ba n k s et Solander, etc. Native name,
"C h iq u i,” U m -v ille .
The small yellow flowers readily distinguish this, as do the very short turgid obliquely-curved pods. The state
with entire leaves, called N. semipinnatijidur/i, is found in Bonaria and Tasmania, as well as in New Zealand. The
common form (smooth or glabrous), with pinnatifid or pinnately-cut leaves, has a very wide geographical range ; in
the old world from ITpsala to the Nile, and in the new from the Arctic Sea-coast (between Cape Ban-ow and
Mackenzie River, Captain Pullen) to Mexico.
Obs. Nasturtium officinale, the common Water-cress, appears to be naturalized about Auckland, as at St. Helena
aud elsewhere; but is a native of the Northern hemisjihere only.
Gen. I I I . BA R BAR EA, B r .
Siliqua linearis, com p resso-tetragona; valvis nervosis, muticis, concavis, subcarinatis. Semina uni-
s e ria ta ; cotyledonibus accumbeutibus.
Stout, erect, leafy herbs (called “ Yellow Rocket” and “ Wiuter-cress” in England), with generally a nauseous
acrid taste, broadly lyrate pinnatifid leaves, and racemes of yellow flowers. Pods erect on short stalks, long, flattened,
bluntly four-angled, tenninated by a short stout style. Valves strongly veined. Seeds very numerous. (Name from
the European species having been dedicated to St. Barbara.)
1. Barbarea australis, Hook, fil.; foKis inferioribus lyrato-piimatifidis lobis lateralibus obovato-
oblongis terminal! ovato sinuato, superioribus integris lobatis pinnati-partitisve, fioribus majusculis,
siiiquis erecto-patentibus linearibus compresso-tetragonis pediceUo te re ti elongato latioribus, valvis venosis,
stylo brevi recto.
H ab. N o rth e rn Island, Colenso. N a t. name, ^ Toi,” Colenso.
My New Zealand specimens are indifferent, and have no habitat. Mr. Colenso says it was once eaten by the
natives to some extent, and he considers it wild. The description is made up chiefly from specimens from Tasmama, of
apparently the same plant, which is certainly wild in that island, and grows commonly three feet high. The New
Zealand specimens entirely resemble B. pr<xcox in foliage, as far as I understand that plant, which, whether in books
or herbaria, seems either excessively variable, or very difficult to define. The characters given to B. pracox by authors
(especially those taken from the foliage) are vague and unsatisfactory; but the flowers ajipear always to be larger
and the pedicels slenderer in this. In the Tasmanian plant, the last lobe of the lower leaves is usually very large
and sinuate, two to three inches long, and there are sometimes very few pinnules. The pods are one and u half
inch long and one to one and a half lines broad, obscurely compressed; pedicels two lines long. Were it not that
■] PLORA OF NEW ZE.ULAND, 1 5
B. pnecox is presumed to be a native of the Northern hemisphere alone, I should have felt inclined to unite this
with i t : as it is, the locality of this, together with its characters of large flower, broad pod, and comparatively
slender pedicels, may serve to distinguish it.
Gen. rV . L E P ID IU M , B r .
Silicula ovata v. subcordata, lateraliter compressa, apice in teg errim a v. emarginata, valvis carinatis,
loculis 1 -spermis; cotyledonibus incumbentibus.
Erect or prostrate branching herbs, sometimes with woody stems, and often acrid or pungent leaves (as in the
garden-cress, L. sativum), which are toothed or pinnatifid. Flowers white. Stamens four to six. Fods broad,
much flattened laterally, winged or keeled at the back. The species are chiefly natives of the North and South
temperate zones. (Name from Actti?, a scale, whicli the flat pods resemble.)
1. Lepidium oleraceum, Eo rst.; caule crasso suffruticoso ramoso, foliis elliptico- v. lineari-oblongis
integerrimis apice serratis v. p e r to tam longitudinem arg u te serratis, racemis brevibus, floribus albis, staminibus
4, siiiquis ovatis subacutis. Eorst. Prodr. DC. Prodr. v. p . 207. A. R ich . Flora. A . Cunn. Prodr.
L. frondosum. Ba n k s et Sol. M S S . et Ic.
H ab. N o rth e rn an d Middle Is la n d s ; ab u n d an t on th e shores. N a t. name, “ Ek e te ra ,” H U r v ille .
A sub-erect smooth plant, ten to eighteen inches high, with a short, stout, woody, scarred stem, much branched
above. Leaves narrow-oblong or obovate or cuneate, two to three inches long, the lower sliarply serrate, the upper
entire or toothed towards the tip. Flowers very numerous, small, white, with four stamens. Pods on slender
spreading pedicels, mnch compressed, ovate, rather sharp, with a short style. The whole plant, when bruised, has
a disagreeable smell: it is found nowhere but in New Zealand.
2. Lepidium incisum. Banks et Sol.; glaberrimum, radice lignoso mnlticipite, ramis p ro stra tis laxe
fohosis apicibus asceudentibus, foliis inferioribus longe petiolatis pinnatifidis laciniis 4 -6 -ju g is p a ten ti-
recurvis crenato-dentatis, superioribus lineari-cuneatis apice dentatis, floribus parvis albidis, siiiquis ovato-
cordatis pedicellis i brevioribus. B a n k s et Sol. M S S . et Ic.
H ab. N o rth e rn Islan d . Opuraga, on tb e b e a ch ; rare. B a n k s a n d Solander.
This plant has not been coUected since 1769, when Banks and Solander gathered it during Cook’s first voyage.
Root perennial. Stems many, prostrate, smooth, w’eak, a span or so long, sparingly leafy. Lower leaves two to
three inches long, pinnatifid, on long petioles; pinnules four to six pair, spreading and recurved, bluntly toothed;
upper leaves entire, narrow, cuneate, toothed at the upper broad end. Flowei's small, in few-flowered terminal
racemes at the ascending ends of the branches. Pods ovate, cordate, notched at the end, l i line long. Pedicels
twice as long as the pods, slender.
N at. O r d . IV. VIOLARIEyE, DC.
Gen. I . V IO LA , Tourn.
Sépala 5, iuEequalia, basi prodncta. P é ta la inasqualia; inferius deorsum gibbosum v. in calcar ob-
tu sum productum. Stamina 5, antheris coarctatis, lobis basi divergentibus, 2 anterioribus d o rs a calcaratis.
Capsula tríg o n a ; valvge 3, elastice contractas, s em in a ejicicntes.
The Violets of New Zealand sufficiently closely resemble their European congeners to be readily recognized by
those who are familiar with English wild plants. They may be known by their irregular flowers; by the five
sepals being produced into flat expansions below their point of insertion; by one of the five petals being spurred
behind; by the anthers being almost united into a tube, two of them being sp u rred ; and by the tln-ee-valved