Page:The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage.djvu/44

22 leaves, it assumes a spiny appearance. The leaves are patent, &mdash;&frac12; inch long, scarcely coriaceous; the stipules hairy and ciliated at the margins. 

 5. ciliata, Hook. fil.; fruticosa, ramis pilosis, foliis oppositis solitariis vel fasciculatis submembranaceis elliptico-lanceolatis obtusis v. subacutis basi in petiolurn perbrevem attenuatis ciliatis, petiolo costaque subtus pr&aelig;cipue hirsutis, stipulis apice barbatis.

&beta;. virgata, laxe foliosa, ramis virgatis tenuibus.

Lord Auckland's group; in ravines, alt. 500–1000 feet. &beta;. In Campbell's Island, in shady situations near the sea.

A common shrub, especially in Lord Auckland's group, where it forms a densely branched bush, growing from 8–10 feet high. The Campbell's Island specimens again are very lax, twiggy, and sparingly leafy; and the leaves, which in α. are &frac12;– inch long, are in &beta;. generally under that size. I have seen neither flower nor fruit. The bushes of the various species of Coprosma compose a dense and impenetrable thicket, on the margins of the narrow gulleys formed by water-courses on the faces of the hills. Becoming stunted and much branched from the violence of the perennial gales, they offer as powerful an obstacle to the traveller here as the beeches do in Tierra del Fuego. In both cases it is almost equally impossible to penetrate them; but, extraordinary as it may appear, their branches are so gnarled and densely matted, that their flat summits will often bear the human weight, and almost admit of walking upon them. 

 6. repens, Hook. fil.; fruticulosa longe repens ramosissima glaberrima, ramis ramulisque brevibus, foliis parvis coriaceo-carnosis rigidis ovatis in petiolum brevem latiusculum attenuatis supra planis v. concavis subtus convexis, stipulis brevibus obtusis carnosis una cum petiolis connato-vaginatis, floribus solitariis terminalibus baccis 2–4 pyrenis. (Tab. XVI.)

Lord Auckland's and Campbell's Island; common from the sea to the tops of the hills.

Caules pedales et ultra, vage repentes, fibras tenues ramosas ad axillas foliorum emittentes, cortice cinereo spongioso s&aelig;pe obtecti, crassitie pennæ passerin&aelig;. Folia breviter petiolata, horizontaliter patentia, conferta, crassiuscula, ovata v. elliptica, obtusa, concava, nitida, enervia, sub. 3 lin. longa. Stipul&aelig; late ovat&aelig;, obtus&aelig;, glaberrim&aelig;. Flores ad apices ramorum solitarii, sessiles, verosimiliter dioici. Calycis limbus profunde 4-partitus; segmentis lineari-ovatis obtusis. Corolla (in exemplaribus Tasmanicis solummodo mihi visa) tubulosa, subcampanulata, paululum curvata; tubo elongato, ore quadrifido; segmentis ovatis, subacutis. Stamina 4; filamentis longissimis, exsertis; antheris majusculis, pendulis, linearibus, ungue uncinato terminatis. Styli 2, longe exserti, pubescentes. Bacca (in exempl. Aucklandicis) subglobosa, omnino sessilis, diametro 3 lin., pallide vel intensius rubra, carnosa et aquosa, intus 2–4-pyrena. Nucul&aelig; crustace&aelig;, 1-loculares, 1-sperm&aelig;, unica v. duobus majoribus. Semen erectum; testa fusca, membranacea; albumine carnoso. Embryo majusculus; radicula hilo proxima, elongata, terete; cotyledonibus latis.

This plant is apparently identical with a species collected on Middlesex Plains, Tasmania, by R. C. Gunn, Esq.; a remarkable circumstance, as its low, procumbent mode of growth gives it the appearance of being an Antarctic form of the genus. The Auckland Island specimens I gathered with young and ripe fruit only, the corolla and styles having invariably fallen away. These latter, as well as the stamens, I have drawn and described from Mr. Gunn's specimens, fully believing the two plants to be the same. I must however here remark, that other states from either locality may be found to possess unexpected characters of sufficient importance to keep them distinct. I am not aware of any other species exhibiting 4 nucules.

The prevalence of Rubiace&aelig; in these islands is a very singular fact in botanical geography; ranking as they do in number of species next only to Composit&aelig; among Dicotyledonous plants, and almost equalling