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Manual of the New Zealand Flora.

1. Rostkovia, Desv

1. Rostkovia, Desv.

Densely tufted perennial herbs. Rhizome short, horizontal, branched. Stems crowded on the rhizome, strict, erect, terete. Leaves 1 or more, together with several sheathing scales at the page 722base of the stem. Flowers large, solitary, terminal; bracts at the base 1–3, the lowest one sometimes foliaceous. Perianth-seg-ments 6, glumaceous, distinct, linear-subulate or linear-lanceolate, erect, rigid; margins often scarious. Stamens 6; filaments very-short; anthers linear, erect, basifixed. Ovary sessile, 1-celled, with 3 parietal placentas; style stout, subulate, divided above-into 3 linear stigmas; ovules numerous, anatropous. Seeds small;. testa appendiculate or not; embryo very small, included in the base of the fleshy albumen.

A small genus of 3 species confined to New Zealand and antarctic South-: America.

Flowers ¼ in. long, exceeded by a foliaceous bract. Capsule longer than the perianth. Seeds not tailed 1. R. sphœrocarpa.
Flowers ¾ in. long; bract very short. Capsule not more than ½ as long as the perianth. Seeds tailed 2. R. gracilis,
1.R. sphærocarpa, Desv. Joum. Bot. i. (1808) 327. — Perennial, densely tufted. Stems many, crowded, erect, terete,. 4–9 in. high. Leaves several, equalling or exceeding the stems, sheathing at the base, erect, rigid, pungent, polished, channelled in. front. Flower solitary, terminal, ¼ in. long; bracts 2, the lowest, foliaceous, twice as long as the flower or more, upper small, scarcely equalling the flower. Perianth-segments nearly equal, linear-oblong, acute. Stamens shorter than the segments; filaments linear; anthers longer than the filaments, connective unguiculate. Cap- sule large, equalling or exceeding the perianth, ovoid-globose mucronate, hard and almost woody, dark-chestnut, smooth and shining. Seeds obovoid, inappendiculate.—R. magellanica, Hook, f. Fl. Antarct. i. 81; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 291; Buchen. Monog. Junc. 70. Juncus magellanicus, Lam. Encycl. hi. 266.

Campbell Island: Mossy and springy places on the hills, Sir J. D. Hooker.

Also recorded from Fuegia, the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia, and said to have been gathered on the Andes of Quito at an elevation of 13000 ft. It is included in Armstrong's list of Canterbury plants (Trans. N.Z. Inst. xii. 344), but I believe erroneously.

2.R. gracilis, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 83, t. 47.—Perennial, densely tufted. Ehizome stout, horizontal or inclined. Stems numerous, crowded, erect, terete, smooth, 6–12 in. high, base with several pale or dark fulvous sheaths. Leaves 1–3, from slightly longer to 2 or even 3 times as long as the stems, slender, terete, rigid, grooved in front. Flower large, solitary, terminal, ½–¾ in. long; bract solitary, very small, 1/10 long, entire or 2-lobed. Perianth-segments linear-subulate, pale-chestnut, shining, the inner conspicuously shorter. Stamens 6, much shorter than the seg- ments; filaments very short, broad and flat; anthers linear, 3 or 4 times as long as the filaments, connective unguiculate. Capsule page 723about ⅓ in. long, narrow ovoid-oblong, obtusely trigonous, acute, chestnut-brown, coriaceous, smooth and shining, 3-valved. Seeds numerous, small, pale, produced at both ends into a long pearly-white appendage.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 292. E. novæ-zealandiæ, Buch, in Trans. N.Z. Inst. iv. (1872) 227, t. 16. Marsippospermum gracile, Buchen. in Abh. Ver. Bremen, vi. (1879) 374; Monog. June. 68.

South Island: Not uncommon in alpine localities, especially in the cen-tral and western portions of the Island, usually between 4500–7000 ft. Auck-land and Campbell Islands: Not uncommon in rocky places, 500–1200 ft. December–February.

Easily distinguished from the preceding species by the larger flower, rela-tively smaller capsule, and tailed seeds. Mr. Buchanan's R. novœ-zealandiœ was published in the belief that the Auckland Islands plant always had the leaves solitary and 2 or 3 times longer than the stems, but in point of fact both New Zealand and Auckland Islands specimens are variable in the number and length of the leaves.