1. P. patens, R. Br. Prodr. 318.—Stem stout or slender, 1–3 ft. high. Leaf sheathing the stem half-way up or rather more, the lamina shorter or longer than the spike. Spike rather lax, 2–5 in. long, many-flowered; bracts small, broad, obtuse. Flowers ¼–⅓ in. long, pale yellowish-green or whitish, sweet-scented. Ovary obovoid. Upper sepal ovate, acute, concave; lateral rather longer, lanceolate, quite free. Petals linear-oblong, obtuse. Lip sessile, as long as the sepals, erect at the base and then suddenly reflexed between the lateral sepals; adnate plate narrower than the disc and not extending much further up than the flexure of the lip; margins broad, thin, undulate. Column short; lateral lobes linear-oblong, obtuse, almost as long as the narrow erect rostellum, entire. Anther large, pointed, not quite equalling the rostellum.—Hook. f. Fl. Tasm. ii. 11, t. 111; Benth. Fl. Austral. vi. 339.
North Island: Auckland—Swamps at Maungatapere, Whangarei, Carse! Great Barrier Island, Kirk! Taranaki—Ngaire Swamp, abundant, T.F.C. December–January.
Easily distinguished from P. Colensoi by the much greater size, larger paler flowers, and longer lip, which has a much more conspicuous recurved lamina, the adnate plate not extending to the tip. The lateral lobes of the column are also much longer. It agrees well with Australian specimens of P. patens, except that the spike is usually denser.
2. P. Colensoi, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 241.—Stem stout or slender, erect, 4–14 in. high. Leaf sheathing the stem for three-quarters its length or even more; lamina shorter than the spike or equalling it. Spike 1–3 in. long, many-flowered; bracts as short as the pedicel, broad, obtuse. Flowers about ⅕ in. long, dull-green or greenish-brown, slightly fragrant; ovary obovoid, gibbous. Upper sepal ovate-oblong, acute, concave; lateral rather longer, connate at the very base, lanceolate, acute, curved backwards. Petals linearoblong, obtuse. Lip shorter than the sepals, sessile, ovate, tip acuminate, shortly recurved, adnate plate extending almost to the tip, margins undulate. Column very short, lateral lobes broadly notched, shorter than the rostellum. Anther broad, obtuse, not equalling the rostellum,—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 272. (?) P. pauciflorum, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xviii. (1886) 273.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Antipodes Island: From the North Cape southwards, but rare and local to the north of Lake Taupo. Sea-level to 4500 ft. November–January.
A most abundant subalpine plant all through the mountains of the South Island. For some remarks on the fertilisation, see a paper by Mr. Thomson in the Trans. N.Z. Inst. xi. 425.
3. P. pumilum, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 242.—Very slender, 6–16 in. high. Stem with a lacerated fibrous sheath at the base. Leaf reduced to a sheathing bract near the spike; lamina ½–1 in. long, erect, usually reaching about half-way up the spike. Spike
