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FLOEA OF NEW ZEALAND. [CUoranthaceoe.
broadly cordate, acummate, five- to seven-uerved at the two-lobed base ; petioles düated below, winged, with aduate
stipules. Spadkes axülary, generally two together, peduncled, 1 inch long. Berries yeUow, eaten, but not the seeds,
which are rejected. (Name, weirepi, in Greek.)
1. P ip er CTce/i»»», F o r s t.; caule fruticoso v. subarboreo, foliis late cordatis subacumiiiatis, petiolis
basi stipulis adnatis alatis, spadicibus geminis solitariisve stric tis erectis breve pedunculatis. Forst. Brodr.
A . R ich . Flora. A . Cunn. B ro d r. P . myristicum. Ba n k s et Sol. M S S . et Ic . Macropiper excelsum, Miquel,
Monogr. B ip .
H ab. N o rth e rn and Middle Islan d s, as far south as Banks’ Peninsida, B a n h a n d Solander, etc. N a t.
name, “ Kawa K aw a ” {piquant). Col. (Cultivated in England.)
Gen. I I . P E P E B OM IA , R u iz el Pav .
Bracteæ peltatæ, crassæ. Stigma capitatum, globosum, vülosum.
SmaU succulent herbs, found in aU tropical and subtropical countries, differing from Piper only in the fleshy
bracts and capitate stigma. The New Zealand species is very simüar to, if not the same, as a South Sea Island
one ; but the species of this genus are fleshy, and consequently preserve badly, so that they cannot be easily examined
in a dried state. P . Urvilleana is a perfectly smooth or very faintly pubescent, succulent, branching herb,
frequenting mossy banks and the trunks of trees. Stems branched at the prostrate base, 4 -1 0 inches high,
alternate, shortly petioled, broadly obovate or elliptical-oblong, three-nerved at the base, 4 -1 inch long,
peduncled, axillaiy, solitary, erect, 1 -1 4 inch long. (Name from its affinity to Piper.)
1. Peperomia Urvilleana, A. E ich . ; g labemm a, caule procumbente ramoso, foliis alternis breve petiolatis
late obovatis elliptico-oblongisve obtusis, spadicibus axillaribus solitariis erectis. A. R ich . Pl. A . Cunn.
Prodr. Miq. Monogr. P ip . P ip e r insipidum. B a n k s et Sol. M S S . et le.
H ab. N o rth e rn Islan d . Common in damp woods, etc.. B a n k s a n d Solander, etc.
N a t . O r d . LXXX. CHLORANTHACEÆ. Br.
Gen. I . ASCA EIN A , Porst.
Dioica. Plores laxe spicati, 1-bracteati. F l . g . Anthera oblonga, 2-locularis, 4-suIca. El . ? .
Ovarium sessile, 1-loculare, globosum v. oblongum, 1-ovulatum. Stigma sessile, depressum.
A very curious genns of shrubby plants, of wldch the only species hitherto (and that imperfectly) known is a
native of the Sandwich Islands. The New Zealand one is a small tree. 1 2-14 feet high, everywhere perfectly
smooth. Stems jointed. Leaves 2 iuches long, opposite, petioled, stipulate, Hnear-oblong or obovate, blunt, coarsely
bluntly serrate, bright green above, glaucous below. Stipules short, connate with the petiole. Inflorescence of four
to eight racemed, slender, opposite spikes, 4 -4 inch long. Plowers very minute, green, sessüe, alternate. Braci
minute. Perianth 0. Ovary sessile, ovate, with a blnnt stigma, one-celled and with one pendulous ovule.— Male
flower unknown. (Name from aasapis, a smaU white worm, which the anthers resemble.)
1. Ascarina lucida, Hook. fil. ; fraticosa, foliis petiolatis obovato- v. elliptico-oblongis obtusis grosse
obtuse serratis supra læte viridibus subtus glaucis, spicis ¥ gracilibus paniculatis oppositis, paniculis folio
brevioribus, fioribus minimis. Trophis lucida. B a n k s et Sol. M S S . et Ic.
H.ab. N o rth e rn Islan d . Totara-nui, B a n k s a n d Solander. Swamps, Wairarapa Valley,
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FLOIIA OF NEW ZEALAND.
N a t . O r d . LXXXI. CUPULIFERÆ, Rich.
2 2 9
Gen. I . FAG U S,
Flores monoici. F l . ¿ . Berianthiurn v. involucrum campanulatum, 5 -6 -fid um . S tam m a 8 -1 2 ,
circa discum glandulosum inserta. F l . ? 2 - 4 , involucro 4 -p a rtito inclusi. Berianthiurn urceolatum, cum
ovario coadunatum ; ore contracto. Ovarium 3-loculare ; ovulis quovis loculo solitariis, pendulis. Btylis
3, filiformibus. Nuces involucro indura to dorso fimbriato v. spinuloso sessiles, compressæ, trigonæ, abortu
1-spermæ.
The Beeches of the Southern Hemisphere rank amongst the finest trees of the regions they inhabit—South Chili,
Fuegia, New Zealand, aud Tasmania. All ave much smaller leaved, flowered, and fruited plants than tbe Northern
Beeches, and their fruit is hence not worth eating by natives, as our Beech-mast would be. All become stunted,
prostrate, and depressed in alpine situations. A peculiar genus of Fungi, Cyttaria, grows on the Tasmaman and
Fuegian species, and is an important article of food amongst the Fuegians; it has not yet been found in New
Zealand, but probably will be. All the species here described are evergreens, but one Tasmanian and several
Fuegian have deciduous foliage. Blowers monoecious ; male consisting of several stamina in a bell-shaped
perianth, surrounding a central gland ; female of two to four ovaria, closely invested with an urceolate perianth, enclosed
in a four-parted involucre, which becomes woody, fimbriate, or spinous in fmit. Ovary three-celled, with
three styles. Bruit of several compressed, flagon-shaped, small nuts, each one-celled, with one seed, no albumen,
and plaited cotyledons. (Name, in Greek, from (paya, io eat.)
1. Fagus Menziesii, Flook. fil.; arbor elata^ sempervirens, ramulis fulvo-tomentosis, foliis glaberrimis
crassis coriaceisque breve petiolatis rhombeo-ovatis orbiculatisve obtusis profunde dupUcato-crenatis venis
inconspicuis, involucri laciniis fimbriatis fimbriis multiseriatis apicibus globoso-incrassatis, fructibus coriaceis
puberulis alatis, alis sursum productis, perianthio infra stylum paucifimbriato. Hook. Ic. B la n t. t. 652.
H ab. Mountains of th e N o rth e rn an d Middle Islands. Dusky Bay, Menzies. Ruahine mountains
and Wa ikare Lake, Bid/will, Colenso. Monntains of Nelson, above 3 0 0 0 feet, BidwiU. N a t. name,
" Tavai,” Col. " Red Birch ” of th e colonists.
A v ery handsome tree, 80-100 feet high, 2 -3 in diameter. Bark silvery, outer layers peeling olì’ and exposing
a red surface. Branches tabular, tuflcd and leafy at the extremities. Branchlets covered with fulvous pubescence.
Leaves bright deep green, very rigid and coriaceous, i inch long, as broad, rhomboid, blunt, doubly
crenate. Involucres puberulous, - i - / inch long ; segments erect, armed ou the back with five to seven tiers of soft
spines, each recurved and swollen at the point. Nuls fimbriated towards the apex, rarely entue, puberulous, two-
to three-wiuged ; wings produced upwards into flat sharp points.—Very nearly allied both to the F. Cunninghamii
of Tasmania, and B. betuloides of Fuegia.
2. Fagus fu s c a , Hook. 111. ; arbor elata, sempervirens, ramulis pubescentibus, foliis glaberrimis venosis
petiolatis ovato-oblongis obtusis grosse serratis basi cuneatis mtegerrimis, pedunculis fl. masc. subpaniculatis
3-iloris puberulis glandulosis, involucris late ovatis coriaceis segmentis dorso lamellatis, nucibus p u berulis
alatis, alis apice subdentatis. Betuloides fusca, B a n k s et Sol. M S S . e t Ic.
Var. a ; foliis submembranaceis siccitate crispatis, dentibus majoribus subacutis. Hook. Ic . B la n t.
t. 631.
Var. /3. Colensoi; foliis coriaceis, dentibus minoribus obtusis. Hook. Ic . B la n t. t. 630.
H ab. Mountains of th e N o rth e rn Islan d , B a n k s a n d Solander, etc. Common in tb e Middle Island,
B idw ill. N a t. name, "Ta \v a i,” B idw ill. "B la c k B frc h ” of tb e colonists. (Cultivated in En g lan d .)
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