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N a t . O k d . LVI. APOCINEÆ, Juss.
Gen. I. PARSONSIA, Br.
“ Corolla mftmflibuliformis ; fauce tuboque esquamatis ; limbo 5-partito recurvo, laciniis æquilateris.
! exserta (v. inclusa). Filamenta medio v. juxta basin tubi inserta, Simplicia. Anthera sagittatæ,
medio stigmate cohærentes, lobis posticis poUine destitutis. Ovaria 2, v. ovarium 1 biloculare; stylus 1;
stigma dilatatum. Squama hypogynæ 5, distincte y. connatæ. Follieuli 2, distincti v. cohærentes.”
Br. Prodr.
Climbing shrubs, with slender rounded branches, milky juice, opposite leaves, extraoidinarily variable in form
on the same plant, and terminal or lateral cymes of small flowers. Calyx five-cleft. Corolla funnel-shaped, with a
broad tube and five-parted recurved bmb. Slamem with short filaments and sagittate anthers, cohering with the
middle part of the dilated stigma. Omrks two. cohering in the New Zealand species, with five hypogynous glands
.at their base.—A genus of sliruhby climbing plants, which may be readily recognized by the curious long terete
capsule, grooved down either side, and full of feathery seeds. The other species are found chiefly in Australia and
the East Indies. (Named in honour of Br. Parsons, author of ‘ The Microscopical Theatre of Seeds.’)
1. Parsonsia ris, Eaoul ; ramulis subincanis, foliis lanceolatis oblongo-lanceolatis v. angustissime
bgulatis breve petiolatis, corymbis paucifioris, calycis lobis lauceolatis acutis tubum brevem coroUæ
superautibus, antheris i-exsertis basi 2-aristatis. Baonl, Choix de Plantes, p . 17. Periploca capsularis,
Forst. Prodr. et PPerl. Mtis. Paris, non Herb. Mus. Brit.
Ha b . Northern and Middle Islands. Dusky Bay? Fm-ster. East coast and interior, Colenso. Ma-
nukan forest, Sinclair. (Coltiyated in England.)
A very slender plant, according to my specimens from Mr. Colenso, which have all very long, narrow, strapshaped
leaves. 3-5 inches long, and 1 Une broad, waved at the margins. Branches puberalous. Racemes axillary
and terminal, 1 inch long, very few- (four- to eight-) flowered. Peduncles and pedicels very slender. Flowers yellow,
or tinged with red. Inline long; calyx lobes as long as the very short tube of the coroUa; lobes of the latter
reflexed ; anthers exserted for three-fourths of their length, having slender tails half their own length,—M. Eaoul
describes this plant from Forster’s specimens in Mus. Paris, which agree with the desci-iption In his ‘ Prodromus,’
and ivith my specimens, except that M. Baonl describes the appendices of the anthers as short, which are long in my
plant, and the leaves as oblong or lanceolate-oblong, the latter a character of no importance.
2, Parsonsia raw®, Raoul ; ramubs puberulis, fobis adultis longe linearibus rarius lineari-lanceolatis
margine sinuatis obtusis muoronatisve, lobis calycinis lanceolatis tubum corollæ subæquantibus, corollæ
lobis bneari-lanceolatis subacutis, antheris paulo exsertis 2-aristatis. Baoul, Choix de Plantes, p . 16.
non t. 12 .
Ha b . Southern parts of the Northern Island ; more abundant on the Middle Island. Akaroa, Baoul.
East coast, Colenso. Port Cooper and Nicholson, ly a ll. (Cultivated in England.)
Intermediate in all characters between the last species and the foUowing, bnt on the whole I think distinct.
Stem robust. Leaves extremely variable ; sometimes one is broadly spathulate whilst that opposite it is almost linear ;
the spathulate ones are sometimes two- and three-lobed, the linear are waved along the margins. The best characters
are afforded by the length of the calyx lobes, which equal the tube of the corolla, and by the long lobes of the latter.
The flowers are more numerous, larger and longer than those of P. capsularis, but variable in these respects, and
rose-coloured.—M. Eaoul’s description of this plant does not agree with his plate, the flower having the calyx lobes
much shorter than the tube, which answers to his description of P. alUfiora (heterophylla, A, Cunn.) ; the specimen
also which I received with the fine New Zealand herbarium he was so good as to give me, though labelled P. rosea,
is clearly his P. albiflora. I do not find that difference between the length of the appendices of the anthers in these
two species (rosea and capsularis) tliat M. Raoul mentions.
3. Parsonsia heterophylla, A. Cunn. ; caule robusto, ramulis puberulis, foliis ovatis ovato-lanceolatis
elliptico-lanceolatis v. lineari-elongatis acutis, racemis axillaribus terminalibusque multifloris pubescentibus
folio longioribus, calycis lobis brevibus coroUæ tubo elongato multoties brevioribus, corollæ lobis brevius-
culis, staminibus inclusis, antheris breviter bicaudatis. A. Cunn. Prodr. Hort. Soc. Journ. v. 5. p. 19.o.
cum Ic. P. albiflora, Baoul, Choix de Plantes, p . 17. Periploca capsularis. Banks et Sol. MSS. et Ic.
H a b . Northern and Middle Islands. Abundant from tbe Bay of Islands southward. Banks and Solander,
etc. Otago, Lyall. Nat. name, “ Kai Ku,” Colenso. (Cultivated in England.)
A very much stouter plant than either of the former, with large, ovate, lanceolate, or elliptical, generally broad,
coriaceous leaves. 2-3 inches long and l i broad, hut often very narrow. Racemes large, numerous, many-flowered,
downy. Flowers more than i inch long, very odoriferous. Calyx lobes very short. Corolla with a long tube and
revolute segments. Anthers included, with short aristæ at the bases of the lobes. Fruit 3-4 inches long, terete,
with two grooves, sharp.—'Why M. Eaoul changed Cunningham’s name of heterophylla for this plant to albiflora,
does not appear. If it be because the other species are equally heterophyllous, the same argument should hold
good for changing Eorster’s name (retained by M. Eaoul), for the original species of capsularis, all the species
having capsular fruit. The latter name I t . Cnnningham should have retained for his P. heterophylla, since he be-
Ueved that it was the same with Forster’s Periploca capsularis, and it agreed with Forster’s authentically named
specimen in Herb. Brit. Mus., though not with his description in the Prodromus, nor with the eqnaUy authentically
named specimen in the Baris Mus. Under these cii-cumstances I have thought it best to retain Forster’s name of
P. capsularis for that he origmally discovered, described and so named in the Paris Mus., Cunningham’s name oi
P. heterophylla for his plant, and M, Kaoul’s for the P. rosea, though neither the authentically named specimen he
gave me nor his drawing agree with his descriptions. Those who deal with large herbaria, containing critical
species, know liow inevitable sucb eiTors are.
4. Parsonsia variabilis, Lindl. ; “ caule volubili pubeseente, foliis nitidis acutissimis nunc linearibus
an<rustissimis basi rotundatis snbundulatis, nunc ovalibus utrinque acutissimis, nunc obovatis, nunc linearibus
apice dilatatis circularibus, p.aniculis brevibus rai'is secundis subfoliosis, sepalis coroUa 3-plo brevioribus,
corolla campanulata (iiec urceolata u t in P. heterophylla), limbo revoluto tubo 4-plo breviore, antberis
ecaudatis.” Lindl. in Hort. Soc. Joitrn. v. 5. p. 196.
H a b . New Zealand. (Cultivated in England.)
Very much like P. heterophylla, hut the le.aves are shining and more variable in form, the linear ones being far
narrower, aud often expanding into a circular blade. The flowers are not more than half the size, and instead of
being contracted at the mouth and urceolate, are exactly campanulate ; they are also far less hairy, by no means so
numerous or densely arranged, and usually intermingled with long narrow leaves.
N at, O r d . LVII. SOLANEÆ, Juss.
Gen. I. SOLiVNlIM, L.
Calyx 4-5-fidus. Corolla rotata v. campanulata, plicata, 4-5-fida. Anthera 5, conniventes, apice
poro gcmino debiscentes. Bacca globosa v. oblonga, 2-locularis. Semina plurima; embryone valde
curvato.