Flora of New Zealand Series

Original localities: "Middle and Southern Islands. Port William and Thomson's Sound, Lyall." [i.e. South and Stewart Is.] Type: K(?).

Plant c. 10–25 cm. tall at fl. Stem us. erect, smooth, internodes < lvs. Lvs mostly 4–5, the shape changing from below upwards; lamina c. 4–15 × 1–1.6 cm., the lowest, and those on non-flowering plants, elliptic, occ. broadly, subacute, subsessile or with winged petiole; middle lvs longer, relatively narrower, sts long and almost grasslike, 1, 2 or none of the lvs overtopping fl. Fl. solitary, ovary us. erect. Dorsal sepal c. 2.5–3.5–(4.5) cm. tall, often rather smoothly arcuate but sts erect below then horizontal above, acuminate to shortly caudate; lateral sepals diverging at a narrow angle, tips long-acuminate to caudate, sts considerably overtopping galea, or bent strongly backwards. Petals shorter than dorsal sepal, acute or acuminate. Labellum lanceolate-oblong, little arched, broad almost to middle then narrowing above to obtuse tip, the margins there ± deflexed and inclined to be pinched in. Column about as tall as labellum; stigma long-oval, often as broad as column, sts overlapped by wings from above.

DIST.: N., S., St.

Endemic.

Probably on all wetter mountain ranges; to altitudes of 1,500 m. in Ruahine Range but found near sea level in Fiordland and Stewart Id.

FL. 12-1.

Hooker, in describing his sp., says: "Nearly as large as P. Banksii, but the leaves are shorter, broader, not keeled, reticulated . . ."; in the Handbook (p. 268) P. australis appears as P. banksii var. β.

Gibson, Hatch and Irwin (Bull. Wellington bot. Soc. No. 26, 1953, 8) state of P. australis : "Recorded from Egmont (T.R.S.N.Z. 77: 246), but further investigation on the variability of the groups within the P. australis-banksii complex is required. Probably only one, polymorphic, group is present (P. banksii var. patens)."

Further investigation is still required but meantime it seems useful to retain the concept of P. australis for the very abundant and often very large Fiordland plant which is matched in suitable habitats further north, and which us. stands well apart morphologically from P. banksii. The later name P. patens is discussed under P. banksii.