The Scientific Notebooks of German Orchidologist Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Kränzlin

Flora of Australia. 135

production of hybrids, some of which in time obtain the to the production of hybrids, some of which in time obtain the fixity of species. The same applies to many genera of less extended scope. The present case of the occurrence of a natural hybrid in the genus Pterostylis (Orchidaceae) is, so far as I am aware, only the second instance recorded for that genus in Australia. The plants were found by Mr. J. R. Tovey at Mentone, Victoria, 1907, growing among patches of Pterostylis concinna and of P. reflexa, var. intermedia. Externally they resemble the latter plant, except that the basal rosette of leaves persists in some cases until flowering. The labellum, however, instead of having an entire obtusely-pointed tip, is broader and faintly but distinctly bifid at its extremity, in this respect, being exactly intermediate between the two forms. Some specimens show signs of reversion to one or the other parent. Bentham gives the scape of P. concinna as rarely above 1 inch. It is usually 3 to 5 inches long, and may bear 1, 2 or even 3 bracts, the lower ones always empty. The wings of the column are marked in white, green and purple, but the intensity, especially of the latter coloration, varies. The possibility of hybridisation must be borne in mind in future studies of this genus, and this explanation may apply to some of the species already described. In Fitzgerald's Australian Orchids mention is made of a supposed hybrid between P. curta, R.Br., and P. pedunculata, R.Br.

PULTENAEA STRICTA, Sims. In Bot. Mag., 1588 (1813). (Leguminosae).

Synonyms: P. MAIDENI, F.M. Reader, in Vict. Nat., xxii., 158 (1905); P. LARGIFLORENS, F. v. M. in Benth., Fl. Austr., ii, 134 (1864); P. GUNNII, Benth., in Ann. der Wien. Mus., ii 82 (1839).

As a result of a close investigation of the numerous forms of these highly variable and closely related "species," it can only be concluded that we are dealing with forms of one large, extremely pleomorphic species. The original description of Pultenaea stricta in the Botanical Magazine, 1813, page 1588, was made from a plant flowering in England, and naturally refers to that specimen only, Sims being unaware of the varied forms assumed by the species in its native habitat.