Page:The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage.djvu/86

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1. (Psyllium, Endl.) Aucklandica, Hook. fil.; acaulis, collo crassissimo elongate, foliis vix petiolatis numerosis confertis obovato-lanceolatis obtusis glabris 7&mdash;9-nerviis integerrimis v. obscure sinuato-dentatis, basi angustatis intus ferrugineo-tomentosis, scapis plurimis erectis v. ascendentibus parce hispido-pilosis, spicis lineari-elongatis densifloris, bracteis obtusis, segmentis calycinis late ovatis obtusis, capsulis calyce duplo longioribus 2-spermis. (Tab. XLII.)

Lord Auckland's group; on the mountain ridges at an altitude of 1000-1200 feet, in a peaty soil.

Planta 4&mdash;10-pollicaris, magnitudine satis varia, habitu P. medi&aelig;. Radix perennis, perpendicularis v. inclinata, tri- quadri-pollicaris, fusiformis, crassa, per totam longitudinem fibras crassas, succulentas, elongatas emittens, et interne in fibras ramosas, subsimiles desinens; collum crassissimum, interdum &frac34; pollicis diametro, tomento rufo reliquiisque paucis foliorum vetustorum cinctum, rarius elongatum et supra terram elatum, simplex v. rarissime biceps. Folia numerosissima, singula planta 15-30, conferta, exteriora patentia, plurima suberecta, crassa et coriacea, exemplaribus plerisque 4&mdash;5-pollicaria, 2&frac12; unc. lata, inter se admodum conformia, obovato- v. elliptico-lanceolata, obtusa v. subacuta, in petiolum latum, ima basi dilatatum contracta, 7&mdash;10-nervia, vix costata, utrinque glaberrima, v. rarius pilis conspersis, paucis, albis subhispida, pr&aelig;cipue ad basim scaporum villoso-barbata, tomento molli, denso, ferrugineo, e pilis intertextis, simplicibus, remote articulatis formata; marginibus tenuiter subrecurvis v. planis, remote et obscure sinuato-dentatis; supra luride-viridia, opaca; subtus pallidiora; siccitate fusca, v. atro-fusca; interiora et juniora angustiora, subspathulata, 3&mdash;5-nervia; intimislineari-lanceolatis. Scapi plurimi, 5&mash;10, elongati, una-cum spica 5&mdash;8-pollicares, erecti v. ascendentes, curvati, graciles, teretes, pilis patentibus, albis, superne pr&aelig;cipue subhispidi, basi ferrugineo-tomentosi, crassitie penn&aelig; corvin&aelig;, siccitate atri. Spica 2&mdash;3 unc. long&aelig;, unc. lat&aelig;, cylindric&aelig;, obtus&aelig;, superne pr&aelig;cipue densi-flor&aelig;, floribus basi distantibus; rachi pilosa. Flores magnitudine P. majoris, omnino sessiles, unibracteati. Bracte&aelig; late ovat&aelig;, obtus&aelig;, concav&aelig;, subcymbiformes, crass&aelig; et carnos&aelig;, calyce paulo breviores, basin ejus fere cingens. Calyx tetraphyllus, basi villosus, &frac34; lin. longus; segmentis late ovato-oblongis, suborbicularibus, scaphiformibus, medio carnosis, marginibus membranaceis, siccitate scariosis. Coroll&aelig; tubus calyce paulo longior; limbi segmentis ovato-lanceolatis, acutis, patenti-reflexis, marginibus involutis, medio late uninerviis, tubo paulo brevioribus. Stamina filamentis planis, flexuosis, longe exsertis; antheris majusculis, late sagittatis. Pollen angulatum, flavum. Ovarium obovatum, compressum, utrinque sulcatum basi attenuatum, spurie biloculare; columua centralis placentifera a dissepimentis retractis discedens, ovula 2, peltata gerens. Capsula turgida, ovata, foliolis calycinis bis longior.

This species is very distinct from any with which I am acquainted, and is apparently most nearly allied to the P. hirtella, H.B.K. (Nov. Gen. et Sp. t. 127), but that plant has the bracte&aelig; and calycine segments acute; it grows nowhere on the low grounds of Lord Auckland's group, but appears confined to the summits of the hills, where it is not unfrequent. It is remarkable for its numerous leaves, which are generally quite smooth and very fleshy, often forming a dense head, not unlike that of a small cabbage. In the smoothness, thick and succulent habit and stout collum, it bears some affinity to the caulescent species of Juan Fernandez and other insular situations; in some of which the apparent stems are, as in P. Fernandeziana, Bert., in reality an elongation of the naked collum: indeed of the so-called shrubby or caulescent species, very few of this group or form are really so, except the P. princeps, Cham, and Schl. (Linn&aelig;a, vol. i. p. 167). The stem of P. Queleniana, Gaud., is of the same nature as that of P. Fernandeziana, the two plants indeed are very closely allied, as are those of P. arborescens of Madeira and the Canary Islands, and of P. robusta of St. Helena.

The uniform and equable climate of insular situations, especially in the southern hemisphere, would appear