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N a t . O r d . LU. SAPOTEÆ, Juss.
Gen, I . SAPOTA, Plum.
I 4 - 6 , imbricata. Corolla tubuloso-campanulata, ad medium 4 -6 -lo b a ; lobis appendicibus su b u latis
alternantibus. Stamina 4 - 6 , corollæ lobis inserta ; filamentis brevibus ; antlieris extrorsis* Ovarium
ovoideum v. globosum, 4 - 1 2-loculare. S ly lu s erectus, glaber. Stigma inclusum. Ovula solitaria. Bacca
1-pauci-locularis. Semen nucumentaceum ; testa ossea, n itid a ; albumen carnosum ; cotyledones amplæ,
foliaceæ.
The only New Zealand species forms a small tree 20 feet high, with bright evergreen foliage, and solitary inconspicuous
pedicellate flowers scattered along the branchlets, distant from the avds of the leaves, but at the scars of
those that have fallen away. Young hranclm hoary, with very inconspicuous appressed down. Leaves quite glabrous
except the petiole and base, which are downy, petiolate, 2 -3 inches long, coriaceous, elliptical-obovate, blunt,
reticulately veined on both surfaces. Pedicels stout, curved, 4 inch long. Mowers (some perfect, others neuter, and
some apparently female only) globose, 4 inch diameter, never spreading open. Calyx of four (rarely five) orbicular,
imbricate, unequal, concave, ciliated, fleshy pieces. Corolla tubular, with fom* imbricate lobes, erect, projecting
a little beyond the calyx, and with an ovate subulate fleshy scale placed in front of the junction of each
pair of lobes. Stamens short, small, sunk in the hollow face of the petals. Mlaments broad, fleshy. Anthers
bursting by slits opening towards the petal. Ovary very hairy, globose, with stout erect style and simple stigma,
four-celled. Ovules solitary, suspended by broad ventral cords from the middle of the inner angle of each cell.
Fruit an oblong or round one-celled berry, variable in size and shape, often as large as a walnut, containing one
elliptical, long, flattened, chestnut-brown, polished seed, with a bony testa, marked with a broad, flat, rough line down
the inner side, by which it is attached to the cavity of the pericarp. Inner coat much veined, membranous. Albumen
fleshy ; embryo as broad and long as the albumen, of two thin ovate cotyledons, and a terete radicle pointing
downwards. At the upper extremity of the rough mark on the testa is a little hole, through which the nutrient
vessels of the cord go. The neuter (?) flowers have short, ovate, concave, fleshy petals, scarcely united at the base,
and flat, short, rudimentary anthers, and au ovate blunt ovarium without stigma or style, containing four cells,
which are confluent at the top, the ovules hanging from a little central column just below the point of confluence.
In the male flowers, the ovary has the same characters, but the petals are larger and the stamens perfect.—The
genus Sapota consists chiefly of tropical Asiatic, African, and American plants, a few being Australian, Cape of Good
Hope, and North American. Most have milky juice, which forms the “ Gutta percha ” of the allied genus Isonandra.
The bark of many is bitter and a febrifuge, and their seeds often yield abundance of oil by pressure. The Star-
apple, Sapodilla plum, and many other tropical fruits belong to this genus and order, whilst the seeds of some of
them are reputed poisonous, but being enclosed in a hard bony testa do not prevent the use of the fruit containing
them. (Name, the West Indian for one species that produces an excellent fruit.)
1. Sapota eostata, Alph. D C .; ramulis appresse puberulis, foliis obovatis obtusis breve petiolatis
glaberrimis utrinque venosis, floribus (stirp. Nov. Zeland.) tetrameris (Norf. In s.) pentameris, ovario 4 - 5 -
loculari, bacca 1-loculari, semine lineari-elliptico u trin q u e subacuto. Alph. DC. Prodr. v. 3. p . 175. En d l.
Prodr. Fl. N o r f. Isld . p . 4 9 . Icon. Gen. t. 4 2 4 0 . A . Cunn. Prodr.
H a b. N o rth ern Island. Wangarei Bay, Colenso. Coast opposite th e Cavallos Islands, U. Cunningham,
N a t. name, "Tawaap o u ,” Col.
This seems identical with specimens of Ackras eostata, Endl. in Hook. Herb., except tbat the flowers are all
but uniformly tetramerous (not pentamerous). Tiie plate in Eudlicher’s ‘ Iconographia’ is a very bad representation of
tbe foliage of this, if it belong to the same species, the leaves being represented as linear and blunt, and their veins
at right angles with tbe costa.
N a t. Ord. L III. OLEINEÆ, Hoff.
Gen. I . O LEA, L .
Calyx monophyllus, irreg u lariter loba tus. Corolla monopetala v. 0. Drupa baccata.— Species Novæ
Zelandiæ arborescentes ; floribus polygamo-dioicis ; calyce urceolari, petalisque 0.
A geuus of shrubs or large trees, to which the European Olive belongs ; it has three New Zealand representatives,
belonging to Endlicher’s section Gymnelæa, all forming trees, with exceedingly variable evergreen leaves, and
all having, as far as I have observed, very imperfect apetalous unisexual flowers, the stamens in the female flowers
bearing no pollen, and the ovarium in the male flowers being rudimentary. Branches with white bark. Leaves opposite
or alternate, exstipulate, evergreen, entire. Flowers inconspicuous, in axillary short panicles. Male calyx
unequally two- to four-lobed. Stamens two, opposite, with large exserted anthers, opening by lateral shts. Calyx
of Ú1Q female flower larger, urceolate, unequally four-lobed, with two included compressed anthers and an oblong ovary,
with one short style and two curved stigmas. Ovary two-ceUed, each cell with two suspended ovules. Fruit an
oblong drupe, one- or two-celled, generally ripening only one seed.—A few species of this genus are found in Australia,
and oue in Norfolk Island ; the latter is also a Gymneloea, and the only species of this section found out of
New Zealand. Numerous species are scattered over the temperate and tropical regions of the globe. Many have
hard excellent wood, and some very fragi’ant flowers, such as that which is used by the Chinese to give fragi*ance to
Tea. The European Olive may no doubt be cultivated witb success in Australia and in the warmer, drier parts of New
Zealand. (Name, Olea in Latin ; of the same root with eXata in Greek; olew in Celtic; and olivier in French ;
Oelbaum, German; oil, English.)
1. Olea Cunninghamii, Hook. fil. ; arbor excelsa, ramulis novellis pubescentibus, foliis 3 -5 -u n c ia lib u s
coriaceis ovato- v. oblongo- v. elongato-lanceolatis lineai*ibusve obtusis, venis (sicco) paucis divaricatis non-
reticulatis pagina superiore impressis, racemis pubescenti-tomentosis brevibus 1 0 -1 5 -flo ris, floribus breve
pedicellatis, fl. ¿ ‘calyce 4-lobo, lobis 2 dentiformibus, filamentis elongatis, ? coroUa urceolari irreg u lariter 4-
fida, staminibus brevibus, fructu ovoideo baccato. Olea apetala, A . Cunn. Prodr. non Vahl nec En d l.
Prod)-. Flor. In s. N o r f., etc.
H a b. N o rth e rn an d eastern parts of th e N o rth e rn Islan d , B a n k s a n d Solander, Cunningham, Colenso.
N a t. name, " Maire raunui,” Col.
A tree about 50 feet high, unbranched below. Leaves very coriaceous, variable in shape; on young trees narrow,
linear, 9 inches long ; on fuUy-grown, linear-ovate, oblong-lanceolate or elliptical-oblong, blunt, aU petiolate,
3 -5 inches long, margin recurved when dry. Racemes opposite, rising from the branches below the leaves, I - I 4
inch long, straight, with a stout hairy rachis and short peduncles. Flowers distichous ; pedicels as long as the
calyx, hahy, with a large ovate concave bract at the base ; males the smaUest, with a four-lobed corolla, two small
lobes, and two ranch larger opposite the stamens ; female fiowers with an urceolate imequally four-lobed calyx, I 4
line long, two anthers bearing no pollen, and an oblong ovarium, with two exserted stigmata. Berry obhquely
ovoid, 4 iuch long, red, seated on the persistent calyx, containing a single crustaceous or bony oue-ceUed one-seeded
nut ; a slit iu the waU of the nut shows the position of the second ceU, which ripens no seed.—-Hr. Cunuingham
considered this plant to be the same as the 0 . apetala (“ iron wood ” ) of Norfolk Island, from which it differs hi
the narrower leaves, hairy racemes, and more shortly pediceUed flowers. Y'ahl, though he gives New Zealand as a
habitat for 0 . apetala, describes the Norfolk Island plant.