of spinous bracts; male inflorescence much more lax than the female. Bracts with broad sheaths and a 3–5-partite limb, the middle segment much the longest, not refracted. Flowers white; calyx-teeth obsolete. Fruit oblong, ¼–⅓ in. long; carpels usually one 4-winged the other 3- winged, but sometimes both 4-winged or both 3-winged. Vittæ 2–4 in the interspaces and 5–6 on the commissural face.—Lindsay, Contr. N.Z. Bot. 49, t. 1; Kirk, Students' Fl. 207. A. squarrosa var. b latifolia, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 88.
Var. conspicua, Kirk, l.c.—Leaf-segments not so rigid, with a broad orange or red midcib. Bracts bright-orange, often pinnately divided.
Var. maxima, Kirk, l.c.—Taller and stouter. Stem 4–10 ft. high, 2–4 in. diam. at the base. Leaves 1½–5 ft. long; segments ¾ in. broad or even more, still more rigid and pungent. Peduncles and pedicels longer. Fruit larger, 25 in. long.
North and South Islands: Common in mountain districts from the East Cape to Southland; most abundant between 1000–3000 ft., but ascending to nearly 5000 ft., and occasionally coming down to sea-level. Var. conspicua: North Island: Locality not stated, Herb. Colenso! Ruahine Mountains, W. F. Howlett! South Island: Wangapeka, Kingsley; Mount Murchison, Townson! Upper Waimakariri, Cockayne! T.F.C. Var. maxima: Mountain districts from Nelson to Otago, not uncommon. Taramea; Spaniard. December–January.
By far the finest species of the genus; easily distinguished from all others by the large size and broad leaf-segments. The two varieties described above have a very distinct appearance, but the differences are hardly of specific value.
2. A. squarrosa, Forst. Char. Gen. 136, t. 38.—Stem tall, stout, erect, 2–6 ft. high, 2–4 in. diam. below, deeply grooved, surrounded at the base by the numerous spreading spmous-pointed leaves. Eadical leaves 1–3 ft. long, 2–3-pinnate; ultimate leaflets crowded, 6–12 in. long or more, very narrow-linear, 16–18 in. broad, coriaceous and rigid, deeply striate, gradually narrowed into rigid, spinous points, margins rough with minute serrulations; sheaths broad, produced above on each side into a long pinnately divided spinous leaflet. Inflorescence a dense spike-like panicle composed of numerous umbels almost concealed in the axils of spinous bracts; female inflorescence much more contracted than the male. Bracts with a broad linear-oblong sheath tipped with 3–5 long rigid spines, the middle one much the longest and usually sharply refracted when the fruit is mature. Fruit oblong, ¼–⅓ in. long; carpels usually one with 4 wings, the other with 3. Vittæ 2–3 in the interspaces and 4–6 on the commissural face.—Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 607, 608; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 87; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 92. Ligusticum aciphylla, Spreng. in Schultes Syst. Veg. 554. A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 274; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 605; Raoul, Choix, 46.
