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N at. O r d . LVI. APOCINEÆ, Juss.
Gen. I . PA E SO N S IA , B r .
" Corolla infundibuliformis ; fauce tuboque esquamatis ; limbo 5-p artito recurvo, laciniis æqnilateris.
Stamina exserta (v. inclusa). Filamen ta medio v. ju x ta basin tu b i inserta, Simplicia. Antheroe sagittatæ,
medio stigmate cohærentes, lobis posticis poUine d estitu tis. Ovaria 2, v. ovarium 1 biloculare; st.yhis 1;
stigma dilatatum. Squamæ hypogynæ 5, d is tin c te v. c o n n a te . Polliculi 2, d istin cti v. cobærentes.”
B r . Prodr.
Climbing sbrubs, with slender rounded branches, milky juice, opposite leaves, extraordinarily variable in form
on the same plant, and terminal or lateral cymes of small flowers. Calgx five-cleft. Corolla funnel-shaped, with a
broad tube and five-parted recurved limb. Stamens witb short filaments and sagittate anthers, cohering with the
middle part of the dilated stigma. Ovaries two, cohering in the New Zealand species, with five hypogynous glands
at their base.—A genus of shrubby 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 B r. Parsons, author of ‘ The Microscopical Theatre of Seeds.’)
1. Parsonsia capsularis, BaovA; ramulis subincanis, foliis lanceolatis oblongo-lanceolatis v. an g u stissime
ligulatis breve petiolatis, corymbis paucifioris, calycis lobis lanceolatis acutis tu b um brevem coroUæ
superantibus, antberis i-ex se rtis basi 2-aristatis. B aoul, Choix de Plantes, p . 17. Periploca capsularis,
Forst. Prodr. et Herb. Mus. Pa ris, non Herb. Mus. B r it.
H a b . N o rth e rn and Middle Islan d s. Du sk y Bay ? Forster. E a st coast and interior, Colenso. Ma-
n u k au forest, Sinclair. (Cultivated in England.)
A very slender plant, according to my specimens from Mr. Colenso, which have aU very long, narrow, strap-
shaped leaves, 3 -5 inches long, and 1 line broad, waved at the margins. Branches puberulous. Racemes axillary
and terminal, 1 inch long, very few- (four- to eight-) flowered. Peiundes and pedicels very slender. Wloiarrs yellow,
or tinged with red. 14 line long ; calyx lobes as long as the very short tube of the oorolla; lobes ot tbe latter
reflexed ; anthers exserted for three-fourths of then- length, having slender taUs half their own length.—M. Eaoul
describes this plant from Forster’s specimens in Mus. Paris, which agree with the description in his ‘ Prodromus,’
and with my specimens, except that M. Eaoul 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 TOW«, E ao u l ; ramulis puberulis, foliis adultis longe linearibus rarius lineari-lanceolatis
margine sinuatis obtusis mucronatisve, lobis calycinis lanceolatis tu b um corollæ subæquantibus, corollæ
lobis lineari-lanceolatis subacutis, antheris paulo exsertis 2-aristatis. Baoul, Choix de Plantes, p . 15.
non t. 12.
H a b . Southern p arts of th e N o rth e rn Islan d ; more ab u n d an t ou th e Middle Islan d . Akaroa, Raoul.
E a st coast, Colenso. P o rt Cooper an d Nicholson, L y a ll. (Cultivated in England.)
Intermediate in aU characters between the last species and the foUowmg, but 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
arc afforded by tbe length of the calyx lobes, which equal the tube of the coroUa, and by the long lobes of the latter.
Tbe 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 thau the tube, which answers to his description of P . alliflora {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 bis P. albifiora. I do not find that difference between tbe length of tbe appendices of the anthers in these
two species (rosea and capsularis) tbat M. Raoul mentions.
3, Parsonsia heterophylla, A. Cumi. ; caule robusto, ramulis puberulis, foliis ovatis ovato-lanceolatis
elliptico-lanceolatis v. lineari-elongatis acntis, racemis axillaribus te rminahbusque multifloris pubescentibus
folio longioribus, calycis lobis brevibus corollæ tu b o elongato multoties brevioribus, corollæ lobis b reviusculis,
staminibus inclusis, antheris breviter bicaudatis. A . Gunn. Frock. Hort. Soa. Journ. v. 5. p . 195.
oum Ic. P . albiflora, Ba o u l, Choix de P la n te s ,p . 1 7 . Periploca capsularis. Ba n k s et Sol. M S S . et le .
H a b . N o rth e rn and Middle Islan d s. A b u n d an t from tb e Bay of Islan d s southward. B a n k s a n d Solander,
etc. Otago, L y a ll. N a t. name, “ K ai K u ,” Colenso. (Cultivated in En g lan d .)
A very mucb stouter plant than either of the former, with large, ovate, lanceolate, or elliptical, generaUy broad,
coriaceous leaves. 2 -8 inches long and 1 | broad, but often veiy narrow. Racemes large, numerous, many-flowered,
downy. Flowers more than i inch long, veiy odoriferous. Calyx lobes very sbort. Corolla with a long tube and
revolute segments. Anthers included, with short aristæ at the bases of tbe 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 Forster’s name (retained by M. Eaoul), for the original species of capsularis, all the species
having capsular fruit. The latter name Mr. Cnnningham should have retained for his P. heterophylla, since he believed
tbat it was the same witb Forster’s Periploca capsularis, and it agreed with Forster’s authentically named
specimen in Herb. Brit. Mus., though not with bis description in tbe Prodromus, nor with the equaUy authentically
named specimen in the Paris Mus. Under these cli-cumstanees I have thought it best to retain Forster’s name of
P . capsularis for that he originally discovered, described and so named in the Paris Mus., Cunningham’s name ot
P. heterophylla for his plant, and M. Eaoul’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 such eiTors are.
4 . Parsonsia variabilis, Lin d l. ; “ caule volubili pubescente, fohis n itid is acutissimis nunc hnea ribus
angustissimis basi rotunda tis subundulatis, nunc ovalibus u trin q u e acutissimis, n u n c obovatis, n u n c liiieari-
bus apice dilatatis circularibus, paiiicuhs brevibus rai'is secuudis subfohosis, sepalis corolla 3-plo brevioribus,
corolla campanidata (nec urceolata u t in P . heterophylla), limbo revoluto tubo 4-plo breviore, antlieris
ecaudatis.” L in d l. in Hort. Soc. Journ. v. 5. p . 196.
I I a b . New Zealand. (Cultivated iu England.)
Very much like P . heterophylla, but the leaves are shining and more variable in form, tbe hnear 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 tho mouth and urceolate, are exactly campanulate ; they are also far less hairy, by no means so
numerous or densely arranged, and usually iutermingled with long narrow leaves.
N a t . O r d . LVII. SOLANEÆ, J u s s .
Gen. I . SOLANUM, I .
Calyx 4 -5 -fid u s . CoroUa ro ta ta v. campanulata, plicata, 4 -5 -fid a . Antheræ 5, conniventes, apice
poro gemino deliiscentes. Bacca globosa v. oblonga, 2-locularis. Semina p lu rim a ; embryone valde
curvato.
2 V