Flora of New Zealand Series

Type locality: Bay of Islands. Type: K. A. Cunningham.

Plant c. 10–30–(50) cm. tall at fl. Stem erect, smooth, internodes < lvs. Lvs mostly 4–6, the size changing from below upwards, the largest lf on a stem c. 5–25 × 1–1.5–(2) cm.; all linear-lanceolate, ± keeled, acuminate to long acuminate, widest near sessile sheathing base, us. overtopping fl. Fl. solitary, ovary us. erect. Dorsal sepal 3–4–(5) cm. tall, distal part us. ± horizontal in fully open fl., tip caudate and sts > 2 cm. long; lateral sepals diverging at a narrow angle, tips long-caudate, much overtopping galea, variously bent. Petals us. much shorter than dorsal sepal, acuminate. Labellum elliptic-oblong, little arched, ± flat in T.S., narrowing slightly towards apex, bent forward smoothly and symmetrically between lateral sepals, midrib only moderately prominent and becoming evanescent in the obtuse and faintly emarginate tip, the margins there not infrequently narrowly rolled under giving a minutely cucullate effect. Column about as tall as labellum or a little taller; stigma relatively long, narrower than column and not prominent.

DIST.: N., S., St., Ch.

Endemic.

Forest and forest margins.

FL. 10–12.

The typification of this name is exceptionally well documented by Hooker. Allan Cunningham, consenting to the wish of Mr Robert Brown that the sp. should bear the name of Banks, supplied the diagnosis in a letter dated April 1832 which also gave the history of the plant. "When I was in New Zealand in 1826, I found on the bank of a stream which is received into the Bay of Islands, a Pterostylis, remarkable no less for the large size of its cauline leaves, than for its height, which exceeded a foot. On my return to Sidney, I carried with me some roots of this unpublished plant, which I transmitted to Kew, by an opportunity which then offered. There it had been long supposed to be dead, when, to the surprise of all of us, it has thrown up a perfect flower-stem, which I carried to Mr Bauer, who has not only made a beautiful drawing of it, but has most kindly permitted me to send it to you to publish in the Botanical Magazine." The accompanying figure, from the "inimitable pencil of Francis Bauer, Esq.", shows the plant and another view of the flower (not quite fully expanded) at life size; and dissections, both life size and enlarged, show details of structure and colour with extreme accuracy.

Cheeseman (Man. N.Z. Fl. 1925, 350), says: "The most widely spread of the New Zealand species. It varies much in size and degree of robustness, the size of the flower, and the length of the filiform tails to the sepals and petals, &c. Mr Colenso has made no less than 5 species based upon what appear to me to be exceedingly slight and inconstant differences. After a careful study of his descriptions and specimens I must confess my inability to distinguish any of them, even as varieties".

P. emarginata Col. in T.N.Z.I. 15, 1883, 328 from several localities in the Hawke's Bay district. No possible type has been found; WELT 3448 in Herb. Kirk is labelled "Pterostylis 'emarginata' Col." but the collector "Mr Thompson" is not one of those mentioned by Colenso.

P. patens Col. in T.N.Z.I. 18, 1886, 270. P. banksii var. patens (Col.) Hatch in T.R.S.N.Z. 75, 1945, 370. "Forests, hilly country, near Norsewood, County of Waipawa; 1883-84: W.C. Glenross, County of Hawke's Bay; 1884: Mr D. P. Balfour." WELT 24281 in Herb. Colenso, with Colenso's notes, from Glenross, Mar. 11/84 is annotated by Cheeseman "Type of P. patens Col."

P. speciosa Col. in T.N.Z.I. 22, 1890, 488. "Near Mount Tongariro, County of East Taupo; 1889: Mr H. Hill". Cheeseman has annotated both WELT 24279 in Herb. Colenso and AK 3491 "Type of P. speciosa"; the latter is accompanied by a Colenso label "Pterostylis speciosa Col.".

P. auriculata Col. in T.N.Z.I. 22, 1890, 489. "Open fern land, Fortrose, Invercargill: 1889". WELT 24280 in Herb. Colenso, consisting of 2 dissected fls. is from Fortrose, 1889, and is annotated by Cheeseman "Type of P. auriculata Col." The description does not quite fit P. banksii : "Dorsal sepal and lateral petals sub-obovate, sharply acuminate, not tailed; lateral sepals erect, . . . tailedtails nearly 1 in. long".

P. subsimilis Col. in T.N.Z.I. 28, 1896, 611. "Ruahine Mountain-range, east side: Mr A. Olsen 1894." WELT 24282 in Herb. Colenso has a Colenso label and was regarded by Cheeseman as the type of the species.

P. patens is the only one of these names that has been taken up by later botanists. Colenso's description was drawn up from a plant growing in a pot, the single fl. of which he examined "without breaking-up or even gathering the specimen". Mr Balfour's plant is referred to in a footnote as having been received later. Parts of the description possibly offering distinctions from P. banksii are: "stem-leaves . . . 3 inches long, 5-7 lines broad [=7.5 × 1–1.5 cm.] . . . subacute . . . Perianth large, very open, bladdery, particularly at the base, which is sub-globular . . . tip of dorsal sepal hooked, sub-acuminate, extending ½ inch beyond lateral petals . . . lobes [of lateral sepals] suddenly and completely reflexed below base of upper bract (or floral leaf), tapering into stoutish points more than 1 inch long."

Hatch (T.R.S.N.Z. 75, 1945, 370) regarded breadth of lvs and strong curving of sepals and petals as differentiae at varietal rank: He states: " Variety patens represents the species in the upper montane and subalpine areas of the North Island, being particularly abundant on the central plateau and extending eastwards over the Kaimanawa Ranges, and south beyond the Ruahines into Hawke's Bay." This appears to be a reliable summary of the position in the North Id, except that occasional colonies near the southern and eastern coasts show "patens" characters; the position remains obscure on Mt Egmont where some plants attributed to "P. patens" would, if found in Fiordland, certainly be called P. australis. In the South Id, correlation between relatively broad lvs and strongly curved sepalar caudae is often inconstant within one population.

Cheeseman may have been correct in placing Colenso's other 4 names in synonymy under P. banksii sens. lat. though P. patens, if recognised, might cover one or more of them. There is no reason to think that any of these names should be associated with either of the later described grassy-lvd spp.: P. montana and P. irsoniana.

P. banksii var. silvicultrix F. Muell. Veg. Chat. Is 1864, 51. "Chatham-Island, in woods only". Characters include: Lvs 1–2¼ × ⅔–1 inch, broad-ovate to lanceolate, acute but not acuminate; "proportionally broader sepals, of which the inner are lanceolate and simply acute, whilst the outer are hardly or little longer than these and never so much protracted into a narrow acumen as those of the typical form" of P. banksii. Without reference to a type it seems clear that this plant does not fit into the current concept of P. banksii". Few fresh specimens of Pterostylis from Chatham Is have been available for study.