Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Manual of the New Zealand Flora.

LXXIX. QrchideÆ

LXXIX. QrchideÆ.

668 Thelymitra.—I have been unable to identify T. formosa, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 338; T. concinna, Col. l.c. xx. (1888) 207; T. nervosa, Col. l.c. 207; and T. fimbriata, Col. l.c. xxii. (1890) 490.
669 T. longifolia.—Ascends to 4,500 ft. on Mount Kakaramea, Taupo, where it is associated with the next species.
670 4 bis. T. decora, Cheesem. n. sp.—Stem slender, 6–12 in. high or more. Leaf shorter than the stem, narrow-linear, thick and fleshy, channelled, ⅙–⅓ in. broad; empty bracts 1–3, the upper one broader and more membranous. Flowers 1–4, about ½ in. diam., dark-blue, the two lateral petals obscurely spotted with brown. Sepals and petals ovate-oblong, subacute. Column short, stout, about half the length of the perianth, the wing continued behind the anther and longer than it, 3-iobed; middle lobe the shortest but exceeding the anther, hood-shaped, truncate, the margin thick and fleshy and denticulate, the back minutely warted, the anterior angle on each side slightly produced and acute; lateral lobes much larger than the middle lobe, pointing forwards, terminated by a dense rounded brush of cilia. Anther broad; connective terminating in a stout horn-like point.
North Island.—Summit of Mount Kakaramea, Taupo, and hills near the base of Ngauruhoe, alt. 3000–5000 ft., T. F. C. January.
This is probably nearer to Berggren's T. intermedia than to any other species, but (judging from his plate and description) differs in the broader and more truncate middle lobe of the column-wing, which is denticulate on the margin and warted on the back, and not at all bifid, and in the much shorter and more densely ciliate lateral lobes. T. longifolia is at once removed by the much longer and more distinctly hooded middle lobe of the column-wing, with an entire margin and smooth back, and by the shorter and more densely ciliate lateral lobes, which do not exceed the middle lobe.
670 4 ter. T. pachyphylla, Cheesem. n. sp.—Stem tall, stout or rather slender, 9–18 in. high or more. Leaf shorter than the stem, usually very thick and fleshy, grooved and channelled, variable in breadth, sometimes as much as ¾ in. across; empty bracts 2 or 3, thick and fleshy, sheathing. Flowers 3–6 or page 1152more in a raceme, large and handsome, ¾–1 in. diam., blue-purple. Sepals and petals oblong-ovate or broadly oblong, subacute. Column short, stout, about half as long as the perianth, the wing continued behind the anther but hardly as long as it, 3-lobed; middle lobe short, broad, indistinctly hood-shaped, truncate at the top with an even or denticulate margin; lateral lobes longer than the middle one, erect or pointing forwards, flattened, the margins divided into numerous simple or branched fimbriæ. Anther broad; connective produced into a stout horn-like point which usually overtops the middle lobe of the column-wing.
South Island: Nelson—Vicinity of Westport, Townson! Westland— Kumara, Brame!
This has doubtless been confused with T. pulchella, from which, however, it totally differs in the structure of the column. In T. pulchella the middle lobe of the column-wing is much shorter than the anther, while the lateral lobes are barely as long as it, and are irregularly toothed or jagged, and not at all ciliate or fimbriate. In the present species the middle lobe almost equals the anther, while the lateral lobes are longer than it, and are provided with numerous fimbriæ. T. longifolia differs in the smaller flowers, much longer and distinctly hooded middle lobe of the column-wing, and in the shorter lateral lobes, which terminate in a dense rounded brush of white cilia.
671 T. imberbis.—Mr. R. H. Matthews sends a variety with cream-coloured flowers from Kaitaia (Mongonui County).
673 Orthoceras strictum.—Vicinity of Westport, Townson! The most southern locality yet recorded.
676 Prasophyllum rufum.—Vicinity of Westport, not uncommon in mossy stony places up to 1000 ft., Townson! I suspect that the New Zealand plant will prove to be a different species to the Australian, and it is also probable that the North Island plant described in the Handbook under the name of P. nudum is distinct from Macmahon's and Townson's South Island specimens. Mr. Townson's specimens have a broad obtuse lip, but in Fitzgerald's Australian Orchids (Vol. ii, Part 4) the lip of P. rufum is represented as lanceolate and acute.
680 Pterostylis micromega.—Swamps near Lake Tongonge, Kaitaia, R. H. Maithews! Coromandel, Joliffe (Handbook).
681 P. venosa.—Nelson—Ranges between Motueka and Takaka, Rev. R. H. Spencer!
683 P. barbata.—Bare clay hills at Whangarei, W. T. Ball!
694 Corysanthes rivularis.—Add to the synonyms Acianthus; rivularis, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 312.