it . F a o n ia , Delph in ium , A qu ilegia, Adonis, Äctesa, and other plants cdtamon in th e gardens o f Tasmania
sh ou ld b e examined, for th ey show, be side s th e modifications mentioned above, th a t th e carpels are often
many-seeded, and fruit sometimes berried, th e sepals and petals extremely irregular, th e calyx or corolla
absent, th e stamens assum in g extraordinary forms, th e scale or p it on the petals o f R an u n cu lu s becoming
the spur o f th e Columbine, e t c . T he toru s presents au enormous disc in F a o n ia .
A ll R an u n eu la c ea are more or le ss acrid, and when high ly so are very p o iso n o u s; Clematis is however
inert, aud th e acrid principle is so sparingly developed in the roots o f some tuberous R an u n cu li, th a t they
may b e eaten with im punity. I know o f n o Australian or Tasmanian species h avin g b een turned to auy
profitable u se . Th e structure o f th e wood o f Clematis is very curious. Th e other Australian genera o f
the Order are Mijo sum s, and probably Caltha, which both occur in N ew Zealand. O f th e se Caltha is the
m o st remarkable; I have se en n o Australian specimen o f it, b u t according to a lette r ju s t received from
D r . I . Müller, that botanist appears to have discovered it on th e A lp s o f South-eastern Australia.
G en. I . C L EM A T IS , X.
Sép a la 4 - 8 , valvata. Re tada 0 . S tam in a 6 v . pLura. Carpella plurima, in caudam plerumque plu-
raosam producta.
Sepals valvate. Petals 0. Stamens generally many. Carpels many, with one pendulous ovule, and a style
which becomes lengthened into a featherj' awn.— Shrubby plants, climbing by their leaf-stalks, rarely erect, ivith
woody stems, and compound or pirmatisect, rarely simple, opposite leaves.
The majority of the Tasmanian and Australian species (of wliich there are six or eight) appear, like the New
Zealand ones, to be partly o t wholly dicecious, the male flowers bearing imperfect pistils, and the female flat filaments
with imperfect anthers. Most o f them have the connective o f the anther produced into a spur or point of
very variable length, and which is sometimes jointed on to the top o f the anther. This peculiarity distinguishes
all the Tasmanian species, except C. linearifolia, from the New Zealand ones. Stendel (Plant. Preiss.) indeed
states the C. indivisa o f New Zealand to be a native o f Sonth-eastem Australia; but this is not only most improbable,
but the character he gives does not suffice to identify .that plant. The species are extremely variable,
especially in amount o f pubescence, size o f leaves, leaflets, and flowers, and size and shape of sepals, but not more
80 in these respects than are their European and Asiatic congeners. AÜ belong to one section of the genus,
except the structure o f the anthers be used to divide the species: and this character, though so easüy appreciated
in the Tasmanian species, is not so in some American ones, where the anthers terminate in mere points. The
inflorescence consists o f either one-flowered asiUaiy peduncles, or compound panicles, which are reduced branches
with small leaves or bracts at the axils. Mr. Gunn bas sent me copious notes on this genus, which prove that the
species are as difficult to distinguish in a living as in the dried state. All have sweet-scented flowers. (Name from
K\r)pa, a vine-shoot, which the long branches resemble in growth.)
1 . Clematis coriácea (DC. Syst. i. 1 4 6 ) ; scandens, foliis ternatis v . biternatis, foholis basi 3-nerviis
ovatis cordatis ovato- v . ob longo-lanceolatis auguste-lanceolatisve integerrimis v. varie grosse v. argute ser-
ratis, sepalis 4 linearibus lineari-oblongisve acutis obtusisve, aristis antherarum loculos ^ gequantibus, car-
p e llis la tis pubescentibus.— D C . P ro d r . i. 5 . C. aristata, Nob. in Hook. Journ. B o t. ii. 3 9 9 (1 8 4 0 ) , non
DC. A n C. glycinioides, D C . I . e .? C. pubescens, B n d l. in H iig e l E n . P la n t. Swan R iv e r , N o . 1 . C.
discolor, S ten de l, P la n t. P r e is s . i. 2 6 2 . [Gunn, 6 3 1 , 7 7 3 , a n d 1 9 7 2 .)
H a b . T h roughout th e Islan d , in th ick e ts and fo r e sts; abundant in rich so il and very damp situ a tio n s;
ascending to 3 0 0 0 fe e t.— (FI. N o v . D e c .) {v. v.)
Dis t b ib . N ew S ou th MAles, S outh-east and Sou th -w est Australia.
Roots creeping. Stems sometimes 100 feet long, scandent. Leaflets ternate or Ijitemate, entire, or cut, or serrate,
1 -5 inches long, blunt, or sharp, or cordate at the base. Mowei-s U inch broad. Anthers witli points half as
long as the cells. Carpels hairy, broad.
I erroneously refen-ed this in Lond. Joura. Bot. to 0. aristata, DC., and now only assume it to be De Can-
doUe s_ C. coriacea, for I have seen no authentic specimens of that plant ; and his remark, that it closely resembles
the New Zealand C. hexasepala, is hardly applicable to this. That author however does not seem to have appreciated
tbe full value of the chai-acter afforded by the conufctivum, whose long point distinguishes this abundantly from
C. hexasepala. De CaiidoUe’s vars. a and 0, founded on the cordate-obtuse and ovate-acute leaflets being found on
different parts of the same individual, are not retained here ; nor is the var. ininor I proposed in the ‘ Journal of
Botany,’ the division and tootliing of the leaves, and pubescence o f the inflorescence, being equally variable.
This appears to me to be almost peculiar to Tasmania and South-west Australia, for I do not doubt but that
the C. pubescens. Endlicher (Hügel, Swau River Plants), which is the same as C. discolor, Steudel (Plant. Preiss.),
is a pubescent variety of it, especially as I have also the glabrous state gathered at Swan River by Drummond.
From Steudel’s remark, that his 0. indivisa o f South-west Australia and his new species 0. cognata are both very
closely allied to his discolor, it is probable tbat they are aU one aud the same species, for his descriptions contain
no differential characters. Yliether the C. aristata of Dc Candolle is reaUy distinct from this I am not prepared
to say : the awns of the anthers are always very much longer, nearly as long as the cells ; its foliage, flowers
(except the anthers), and carpels, are identical, and it seems subject to similar- variations in all these organs with
G. coriacea.
In young specimens the foliage is variegated. Tire very uan-ow-leaved states greatly resemble what C. gen-
iianoides m ight be supposed to be, were it to assume a scandent habit and temate leaflets. Small-leaved specimens
seem to connect it with the foUowring.
2 . Clematis blanda (H o ok . J o u n i. B o t. i. 2 4 1 . 1 8 3 4 ) ; scandens, glaberrima, foliis (parvis) ternatis
biternatisve, foliolis coriaceis integris rarius l - 2 -dentatis la te v. anguste lineai'i- v. oblongo-eUipticis
late oblongisve rarius lanceolatds, sepalis antherisque u t in C. co-riacea sed floribus minoribus e t carpellis
angustioribus glabris.— ZiooA Comp. B o t. M a g . i. 2 7 3 , Journ. B o t. ii. 3 9 9 . {Gunn, 5 4 .)
H a b . Abundant in rich soil in shady places iu the uorthern parts o f th e Isla n d ; very fragrant.— (FI.
Oct. N o v .)
D is t b ib . South-eastern Australia.
Roots not creeping {Gunii). Stems 4 - 9 feet long, scandent. Leaves ternate or bitemate; leaflets small, rarely
cut, - i - l i inch long, broad or naiTOw, linear or oblong ; usually blunt, rarely lanceolate. Flowers 4 - 1 inch broad.
Anthers as in C. aristata. Cai-pels narrow', glabrous.
In the original description o f this plant, and in the ‘ Companion to tbe Botanical Magazine,’ the C. coriacea
was included in this species, and indeed, except by the fruit, it is not always possible to distinguish them. Tiie
present is a much smaller and smaller-leaved plant, with generally differently shaped leaflets, seldom tootlied at all,
always narroived into the petiole, aud very shining ; all these are however variable characters.
3. Clematis gentianoides (DC. Syst. i. 1 5 9 ) ; erecta, rarius scandens, glaberrima, foliis plerumque
simplicibus la te v. anguste oblongis liiieari-oblongis lineari-lanceolatisve obtiisis acutisve integerrimis
V. pai-ce serratis rarius ternatis, foliohs foliis similibus, pedunculis plerumque solitariis termiiialibus axil-
laribusque 1-flovis, floribus ut in C. coriacea sed carpellis glaberrimis.— D C . P ro d r. i. 8 ; Deless. I c . S ei. i.
t. 5 ; Hook. Journ. B o t. i. 2 4 1 e t ii. 3 9 9 , Comp. B o t. M a g . i. 2 7 3 . {Gunn, 5 3 .)
H a b . N o t so common as tb e preceding, b n t found iu v a iiou s parts o f the Colony, always in poor soil,
forming a bush, or trailing on the ground.— (FI. Oct. N o v .) {v. v.)
Roots creeping. Stems bushy, generally erect, 2 feet high, or trailing, and then longer. Leaves eutire, rarely
trilbliolatc ; leaflets of all shapes, from broud elliptic-oblong to narrow bneai'-lanceolate, usually 1 . ^ 3 inches long,
blunt or sliai-p, quite entire or more or less serrate. Flowers white or cream-colom-cd, on solitaiy, axillary, and