I ;
I f
Petals linear-oblong or rounded, blunt. Stamens five, sessile ; connectivum of the anthers broad, sometimes produced
above into a shai-p horn or broad membrane, and furnished at the back below with a strap-shaped erect body.
Ovary 1-celled, with three to four parietal placentm, each bearing one to two rows of few or many ovules. Berries of
some species eaten by the natives; round, fleshy, full of seeds, which are angled from mutual compression. (Name
fi-om honey, and kuto?, a cavity, in allusion to the five scales behind the anthers, called nectaries by Forster.)
1. Melicytus ramijlorm, E o rs t.; cortice albo, foliis oblongo-lanceolatis serratis, antheris obtusis,
stigmate su b -6-lobo sessili, bacca parva. Forst. Prodr. DC. Prodr. v. p . 257. A. Richard, Flora.
A . Cunn. Prodr. Tacbites umbellulifera, B a n k s et Sol. MS S .
H ab. N o rth e rn and Middle Islan d s, ab u n d an t, Forster, etc. N a t. name, "M a b o e ,” R . Cunn., L ya ll.
(Cult, in En g lan d .)
A brittle, white-barked shrub or tree. Leaves 4 -5 inches long, oblong-lanceolate, sharp, serrated all along
the margin with small blunt teeth.—Mr. Colenso measured a tree of this at Waikare Lake 4 feet 3 inches iu
circumference.
2. Melicytus maorophyllus, A. C u n n .; cortice fusco, foliis obovatis grosse sinuato-dentatis, pedunculis
infra florem bracteolatis, antheris apiculatis, stigmate discoideo 3-lobo, baccis majoribus. A . Cunn. Prodr.
H a b . N o rth e rn I s la n d ; Bay of Islan d s, Frazer, Cunningham, etc.
A large bush, 6 -7 feet high, with dark-coloured bark. Leaves broader than in tbe former, deeper green, and
with but few large blunt teeth. Mowei's much larger (two hues across), on stouter peduncles, which are bracteolate
at the apex. Anthers apiculate. Stigma broad, discoid, and lobed. Berries reddish, as large as a pea.
3. Melicytus lanceolatus, Ho o k , fil.; cortice fusco, fohis anguste lineari-lanceolatis acuminatis argute
serratis, fasciculis paucifioris, pedunculis medio 2-bracteolatis bracteohs connatis, antheris apice appendice
subulato in stru c tis, stylo elongato 3-fido, bacca parva oblonga. T a b . "VIII.
H ab. N o rth e rn I s la n d ; forests of th e east coast, Colenso.
A slender succulent brittle shrub, 1 0-12 feet high. Leaves long and narrow, 6-8 inches long, sharp and sharply
serrated. Flowers in fascicles of three to four. Anthers with the connectivum produced into a sharp flat point.
long, trifid at the top. Berries oblong, blue-black, small.—P la t e V III. Fig. 1, male flower; 2, stamens;
3, 4, anthers; 5, rudiment of pistillum; 6, female flower; 7, p e ta l; 8, 9, steiale stamens ; 10, p istil; 11, ovary cut
across; 12,beri-y; IB, beiTy cut across; 14, seed; 15, the same cut longitudinally; 1 6 ,embryo:—a l l h u t j i g . \ ^
4. Melicytus micranthus, Hook. f il.; humilis, ramis rigidis tortuosis, ramulis puberulis, foliis parvis
altemis fasciculatisve breve petiolatis obovato-orbiculatis obtusis sinuatis subcoriaceis venosis junioribus
oblongis linearibus profunde sinuatis pinnatifidisve, floribus minimis solitariis axiUaribus pedicellatis, pedi-
cello puberulo bracteolato, calycis lobis 4 - 5 rotundatis cihatis, p etahs oblongo-rotundatis, antheris late
ro tu n d a tis sessilibus in fl. ? effcetis connectivo superne in squamulam simplicem v. bifidam producto dorso
appendiculato, ovario pauci-ovulato, ovulis placentis 4 nerviformibus soHtariis geminisve suspensis, stigmate
4-lobo discoideo, bacca 2 -4 -sp erma. El?eodendi-on micranthum. Hook. f i l . in Lond. Journ. Bo t. v. 3.
p . 228. t. 8.
H ab. N o rth e rn Islan d , and n o rth e rn parts of th e Middle Is la n d ; east coast and interior, Colenso,
Pascoe, B idw ill. Nelson, Bidw ill.
A scrambling, low, small-leaved, rigid shrub, or small tree, with tortuous grey or black-barked branches; the
youngest pubescent. Leaves on very short petioles, strongly veined, inch long, rounded-obovate, blunt,
sinuated, very pale green; young ones often linear and pinnatifid. Flowers very minute, green, on puberulous
pedicels shorter than the petioles, axillary, solitary. Calyx-loh^s rounded, ciliated. Petals oblong or rounded, often
ciliated. Anthers sessile, very broad, with an entire or bifid membranous prolongation of the connectivum upwards,
and a fleshy erect scale or gland at the back. Female flowers with imperfect stamens, that have the appendages and
longer connectiva. Ovary flagon-shaped, with a short thick style and foin-lobed stigma. Berry scarcely larger
than a mustard-seed, one-celled, with about three pendulous seeds; testa coriaceous; radicle cylindrical; cotyledons
broad and flat.—Impei-fect specimens of this plant were originally described as an Flceodendron: it differs very much
in habit and appearance from Melicytus, and approaches Hymenanthera in these respects, agreeing also in its discoid
stigma, few ovules and seeds, and in its very variable leaves, sinuated when young. The plant bears further a close
1 resemblance to Panax anomalum and Melicope simplex.
N at . O r d . V. DROSERACE/E, BC.
Gen. I . D ROSERA , L in n .
Sepala 4 - 5 , plus minusve in te r se coalita. P e ta la e t stamina 4 - 5 , basi calycis inserta, vix hypogyna.
Ovarium 1-loculare, stylo brevissimo 3 -4 -p a rtito v. stigm atibus 3 - 4 coronato ; ovulis plurimis, placentis
3 -4 parietalibus adnatis. Capsula 3-4 -v alv is. Semina plurima ; embryone axi albuminis carnosi, te re ti ;
radícula hilo proxima.
Small herbaceous plants, with radical leaves and scapes, or very slender stems, remotely leafy. Leaves in the
scapigerous species rolled inward in vernation as with the Eerns, always covered with long hairs, tipped with glands
that exude a viscid fluid, entrapping insects. Sepals flve, sometimes united. Petals and stamens five. Ovary one-
celled, with the ovules generally on three parietal placentee. Capsule bursting by three valves, usually surrounded
at the base by the persistent sepals, and often the petals. Seeds numerous, albuminous; embryo in the axis of the
seed, with the radicle towards the hilum.—All the species of this genus (eighty-five) have lately been well described
by M. Planchón (Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 3. v. 9), from whose monograph it appears that more than half the species
are confined to Australia and New Zealaud. A few of these are common to the East Indies. One of the mountain
New Zealand ones is found in Van Diemen’s Land, and four others are more widely diffused in Australia;
the sixth is very nearly allied to the only Magellanic species. There are three kinds in Europe, all found in England
and in North America. (Name from Spoo-o?, dew, in allusion to the viscid exudation of the leaves ; hence the English
name “ Sun-dew.” )
1. Drosera stenopetaìa, Plook. fil. ; acaulis, unifiora, foliis longe petiolatis spathulatis, petiolis glaberrimis,
scapo elongato graciH 1-floro, sepalis in calycem obconicum 5-lobum u nitis lobis ro tu n d a tis subrecurvis,
petalis anguste lineari-elongatis calyce bis longioribus staminibusque perigynis, stylis 3 firabriato-laceris,
seminibus obovatis tu rg id is u trin q u e (e te sta laxa) subappendiculatis, te sta lineato-punctata. Drosera sp.
Fl. An t. V. 1. p . 8 . Planchón, A n n . Sc. N a t. ser. 3 . v. 9 . ^ . 1 8 8 .
H ab. Middle Islan d ; P o rt Preservation, in marshy ground, L y a ll. F l. Jan u ary .
Rhizoma short. Leaves probably very variable in length, as usual in its congeners, in Dr. Lyall’s specimens
1-2 inches long; the petiole glabrous; lamina spathulate, covered with long glandular hairs. Scapes slender, one-
flowered, twice as long as the leaves. Calyx an obconic five-lohed cup, 3 lines long, quite smooth. Petals twice
as long as the calyx and stamens, very narrow linear, almost filiform below, expanding into a narrow spathulate
retuse limb, membranous. Ovai-y one-celled, three-valved, -with three stigmas, whicli are divided to their bases into
many branches. Seeds small, brown-black.—This plant and the D. uniflora of Fuegia and the Chilian Andes form
a peculiar group of the genus, differing from most others in the one-flowered scape, and from all in the styles being
divided to the base, aud in the stamens and petals being placed on the tube of the calyx. This same species has
been found in Lord Auckland’s Group by myself, and is alluded to in the ‘ Flora Antarctica;’ also by M. Planchón.
— P late IX. Fig. 1 , flower; 2, petal; 3, stamen; 4, ovarium and stamens :— all ?