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broadly cordate, acuminate, five- to seven-nerved at the two-lobed base ; petioles düated below, winged, with adnate
stipules. Spaiiees axülary, generaUy two together, peduneled, 1 inch long. Berries yeUow, eaten, but not the seeds,
which are rejected. (Name, mncfi, in Greek.)
1. Piper Forst. ; caule fruticoso v. subarboreo, foliis late cordatis subacumiiiatis, petiolis
basi stipulis adnatis alatis, spadicibiis geminis solitariisve strictis erectis breve pedunculatis. Forst. Frodr.
A. meh. Flora. A. Ounn. Frodr. V . 'isigriAàcv.m, Banks et Boi. MSa. et Ic. Macropiper excelsum,
3Ionogr. Fip.
Hab. Northern and Middle Islands, as far south as Banks’ Peninsula, Banks and Solander, ete. Nat.
name, “ Kawa Kawa” (piquant). Col. (Cultivated in England.)
Gen. I I . PEPEEOMIA, Buiz et Pav.
Bracteæ peltatæ, crassæ. Stigma capitatum, globosum, villosum.
Small succulent herbs, found in all tropical and subtropical countries, differing from Piper only in the fleshy
bracts and capitate stigma. The New Zealand species is very similar to, if not the same, as a South Sea Island
one ; but the species of this genus are fleshy, and consequently preserve badly, so tbat they cannot be easily examined
m a dried state. P. Urvilleana is a perfectly smooth or very faintly pubescent, succnlent, branching herb,
frequenting mossy banks and the trunks of trees. Stems branched at the prostrate base, 4-10 inches high. Leaves
alternate, shortly petioled, broadly obovate or elliptical-oblong, three-nerved at the base, i - 1 inch long. Spadix
peduneled, axillary, solitary, erect, 1- l i inch long. (Name from its affinity to Piper.)
1. Peperomia Urvilleana, A. Rich.; glaberrima, caule procumbente ramoso, foliis alternis breve petiolatis
late obovatis elliptico-oblongisve obtusis, spadicibus axillaribus solitariis erectis. A. Rich. Fl. A. Ounn.
Prodr. Miq. Monogr. Pip. Piper insipidum. Banks et Sol. MSS. et Ic.
Hab. Northern Island. Common in damp woods, etc.. Banks and Solander, etc.
N a t . O r d . L X X X . C H L O R A N T H A C E Æ . B r.
Gen. I. ASCARINA, Forst.
Dioica. Flores laxe spicati, 1-braeteati. Ph. $ . Anthera oblonga, 2-locularis, 4-sulca. E l . ¥ .
Ovarium sessile, 1-loculare, globosum v. oblongum, 1-ovnlatum. Stigma sessile, depressum.
A very curious geuus of shrubby plants, of which the only species hitherto (and that imperfectly) known is a
native of the Sandwich Islands. The New Zealand one is a smaU tree, 12-14 feet high, everywhere perfectly
smooth. Stems jointed. Leaves 2 inches long, opposite, petioled, stipulate, linear-oblong or obovate, blunt, coarsely
bluntly serrate, bright green above, glaucous below. Stipuks short, connate with the petiole. Inflorescence of four
to eight racemed, slender, opposite spikes. i~ i inch long. Flowers very minute, green, sessile, altemate. Bract
minute. Perianth 0. Ovary sessile, ovate, with a blunt stigma, one-celled and witb one pendulous ovule.—Male
flower unknown. (Name from aoKapis, a small white worm, which the anthers resemble.)
1. Ascarina Incida, Hook, ill.; fruticosa, foliis petiolatis obovato- v. elliptico-oblongis obtusis grosse
obtuse serratis supra læte viridibus subtus glaucis, spicis ¥ gracilibus paniculatis oppositis, paniculis folio
brevioribus, floribus minimis. Trophis lucida. Banks et Sol. MSS. et Ic.
Hab. Northern Island. Totara-nui, Banks and Solander. Swamps, Wairarapa Valley, Colenso.
N a t . O r d . L X X X L C U P U L IE E R Æ , Rich.
Gen. I. EAGUSy Tourn.
Flores monoici. El. S - Ferianthium v. involucrum campanulatum, 5-6-fidum. Stamma 8-12,
circa discum glandulosum inserta. E l. ? 2-4, involucro 4-partito inclusi. FeriantUum urceolatum, cum
ovario coadunatum ; ore contracto. Ovarium 3-loculare ; ovulis quovis loculo solitariis, pendulis. Stylis
3, filiformibus. Nuces involucro indurato dorso fimbriato v. spinuloso sessiles, compressée, trigonæ, abortu
1 -spermæ.
The Beeches of the Southern Hemisphere rank amongst the finest trees of the regions they inhabit—South Chili,
Euegia, New Zealand, and Tasmama. All are much smaller leaved, flowered, and fruited plants than the Northern
Beeches, and their fruit is hence uot worth eating by natives, as our Beech-mast would be. All become stunted,
prostrate, and depressed in alpine situations. A peculiar genus of Fungi, Cyttarla, grows on the Tasmanian and
Fuegian species, and is an important article of food amongst the Euegians ; it has not yet been found in New
Zealand, but probably mil be. All the species here described are evergreens, but one Tasmanian and several
Fuegian have deciduous foliage. Flowers monoecious ; male consisting of several stamina in a bell-shaped
perianth, suiToundiug a central gland ; female of two to four ovaria, closely invested with an m'ceolate perianth, enclosed
in a four-parted involucre, which becomes woody, fimbriate, or spinous in fruit. Ovary tbrce-celled, with
three styles. Fruit of several compressed, flagon-shaped, small nuts, each one-celled, with one seed, no albumen,
aud plaited cotyledons. (Name, iu Greek, from <^0701, to eat.)
1. Eagus Menziesii, Hook, f il ; arbor elata, sempervirens, ramulis fulvo-tomentosis, foliis glaberrimis
crassis coriaceisque breve petiolatis rhombeo-ovatis orbiculatisve obtusis profunde duplicato-crenatis venis
inconspicuis, involucri laciniis fimbriatis fimbriis multiseriatis apicibus globoso-incrassatis, fructibus coriaceis
puberulis alatis, alis sursum productis, periautliio infra stylum pauciflmbriato. Hook. Ic. Flant. t. 652.
H a b . Mountains of the Northern and Middle Islands. Dusky Bay, 3Ienzies. Ruahine mountains
and Waikare Lake, Bidwill, Colenso. Mountains of Nelson, above 3000 feet, Bidwill. Nat. name,
“ Taviii," Col, “ Red Birch ” of the colonists.
A veiy handsome tree, 80-100 feet high, 2-3 in diameter. Baik silvery, outer layers peeling off and exposing
a red surface. Branches tabular, tufted and leafy at the extremities. Branchlets covered with fulvous pubescence.
Leaves bright deep green, very rigid aud coriaceous, a inch long, as broad, rhomboid, blunt, doubly
crenate. Involucres puberulous, inch long ; segments erect, armed ou the back with flve to seven tiers of soft
spines, each recurved and swollen at the point. Nuts fimbriated towards the apex, rarely entire, puberulous, two-
to three-wingcd ; wings produced upwards into flat sharp points.—Very nearly allied both to the F. Cunninghamii
of Tasmania, and F. hetuloides of Fuegia.
2. Fagus ftisca. Hook. fil. ; arbor elata, sempervirens, ramulis pubescentibus, foliis glaberrimis venosis
petiolatis ovato-oblongis obtusis grosse serratis basi cuneatis integerrimis, pedunculis fl. masc. subpaniculatis
3-lloris puberulis glandulosis, involucris late ovatis coriaceis segmeutis dorso lamellatis, nueibus puberulis
alatis, alis apice subdeiitatis. Betuloides fusca. Banks et Sol. MSS. et Ic.
Var. a ; foliis submembranaceis siccitate crispatis, dentibus majoribus subacutis. Hook. Ic. Flant.
t. 631.
Var. /3. Colensoi; foliis coriaceis, dentibus minoribus obtusis. Hook. Ic. Flant. t. 630.
IIab. Mountains of the Northern Island, Banks and Solander, etc. Common in the Middle Island,
Bidwill. Nat. name, “ Tawai,” Bidwill. “ Black Bii’c h ” of the colonists. (Cultivated in England.)
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