''sí*S(í>-
. A .
,111
'i llIDIi
:íi
[i t'V
4 6 FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND. [ B /ia m x e a .
Stamens opposite the petals. (Name from Trwga, a covering, aud tisppis, the shin, because the ripe capsules are loosely
invested by the caljTC.)
1. Pomaderris elliptica, L a b .; to ta cinereo-velutina, foliis petiolatis ellipticis u trin q u e obtusis v.
apice subacutis superne glabris subtus albidis, cymis densifloris paniculatis, calycibus pedicellisque incano-
velutinis pilosisque, petalis sp athulatis unguiculatis. L a i. Fl. Nov. Ho ll. v. l . p . 61. t. 86. B C . Prodr.
V. 2. p . 38. P . intermedia, Sieher, n. 2 1 0 . P . Kumeraho, A . Cunn. Prodr.
H a b . N o rth e rn Islan d , ab u n d an t. Hilly situa tions from Auckland northwards, Cunningham, etc.
PI. September. N a t. name, “ K umarahou,” Colenso. (Cultivated in En g lan d .)
A shrab, 4 -6 feet high, branching from tbe base, having the branches, inflorescence, and leaves underneath
densely covered with a white or pale-grey pubescence. Leaves 2-3 inches long, on petioles i inch long, elliptical,
generally blunt, yellow-brown when dry. Cymes much branched, very many flowered, yellow and sweet-smelling,
2 -6 inches across. Calyx tomentose, and also covered with long silky hairs. Petals small, with crisped margins,
yellow.— Mr. Cunningham considered this plant different from the Australian and Tasmanian one, and points out
supposed characters, in the sharper leaves, smaller and more lax panicle : in all which particulars he must have been
deceived by imperfect specimens; for though some Tasmanian specimens have broader and blunter leaves, approaching
ovate-oblong in shape, they vary much, and in some New Holland ones the leaves are even narrower and sharper
than in the New Zealand. The pilose calyx distingmshes this fr'om P. discolor. Vent. I do not quote the ‘ Botanical
Magazine’ as a synonym for the P. elliptica, the calyx being there described as smooth. The native name,
“ Kumarahon,” is said to be given to this because it flowers at the time for planting the native potato, “ Kumarahou.”
%. Pomaderris erieifolia. H o o k .; fruticulus erectus, ramosus, scoparius, velutino-pubescens, ramulis
villosis, foliis parvis eonfertis patulis lineari-oblongis obtusis breve petiolatis superne scabridis marginibus ad
costam revolutis, floribus parvis in cymos abbreviates paucifloros axiUares aggregatis, petalis nuUis. Hook.
■Journ. Bot. v. l . p . 257. A. Cunn. Prodr. Eb amu u s axillaris. Ba n k s e t Sol. M S S . et Ic.
H a b . N o rth e rn Island, dry hills, abundant. El. September. N a t. name, “ Tau h in u ,” Colenso.
A small, viUons, brownish, heath-like shrub, with small uniform leaves, and axillary, white or yellowish flowers.
Branches white, covered with rillous hairs, erect, numerous, fasciculate. Leaves cinereous when dry, 3 -4 lines long,
patent, very numerous, linear-oblong, the margin rolled back to the midrib, blunt, channelled, and rather scabrid
above with short whitish hairs. Flowers minute, in numerous axillary few-flowered cymes, which are scarcely longer
than the leaf, apetalous.—This species is not unfrequent in the northern parts of Tasmama, but has not hitherto
been found in Australia.
3. Pomade rris? sp .; fruticulus, ramulis foliisque su b tu s rufo-tomentosis floccosis pilisque stellatis
onustis, foliis breve petiolatis elliptico-oblongis obtusis superne impresso-venosis scabris.
H .ab. N o rth e rn Islan d . “ Lofty lulls, la t. 36“, about twenty miles from th e sea-coast,” Edgerley.
Of this plant I have only a fragment; it is nearly allied to P. prunifoUa, A. Cunn., of Australia, if not
identical with it, and may possibly have got into my New Zealand collection by accident; for Mr. Edgerley’s ticket
describes the “ finit in panicles, capsules six-valved, three exterior and three interior, one- to two-seeded, ripening
in January;” whereas his specimen has neither flower nor fruit, aud it is furthei- the only plant in Mr. Edgerley’s
collections not found by any other collector. I t may he recognized at once by the floccose yellow and red tomentum
on the branchlets and under surface of the leaves, mixed with stellate hairs. Leaves f inch long, oblong, blunt,
scabrid above, with deep sunk veins, soft below, with very large prominent veins. I t appears to form a small
straggling shrub.
Gen. I I . D ISC A E IA , Hook.
Calyx brevi-campanulatus, 4 -5 -fid u s. Pe ta la 4 - 5 v. 0. Antherce 2-loculares, longitudina liter
i l
u jL iU J i
S3
Sta c kh o u seoe ? ) FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND. 47
deliiscentes. Discus carnosus, pateriformis, basin ovarii cingens, margine libero subintegro. S ty lu s b re v is ;
stigmate 3-lobo. Capsula 3-locularis; loculis 1-spermis.
A curious genus, containing a few species of almost leafless spinous shrubs, hitherto found only in extra-tropical
South America, the Gallapago Islands, New Zealand, Australia, and Tasmama. The New Zealand species only
differs from the Tasmanian in wanting petals, which is in this order a very trifling character, and would not be considered
of specific importance were it observed in Tasmanian specimens. The D. australis forms a thorny, smooth,
tortuous bush, 2 -4 feet high, with stiff opposite spreading branches, of which the ultimate are reduced to straight,
woody, very sharp spines, 1 -2 inches long. Leaves small, fascicled at the axils of the spines (absent in old plants),
oblong-obovate or linear-oblong, blunt or retuse, smooth or e n t i r e ( in y o u n g p l a n t s s e iT u la te ? ), in c h
long. Flowers white, fascicled, on very short axillary peduncles, smooth or pubescent. Calyx with a short broadly
obconic tube, and four to five reflexed broadly-ovate subacute lobes. Petals none in the New Zealand plant, like
small concave scales in the Tasmanian. Stamens alternate with the lobes of the calyx. Disc broad, occupying the
base of the flower, with a narrow upturned margin. Ovary three-celled, with one short style and three stigmata.
Capsule size of a pepper-corn, smooth, surrounded at the base by the remains of the calyx, three-lobed, thi-ee-ceiled ;
cells one-seeded; seed with a pale brown shining testa. (Name from Sto-Kos, a disc, from the broad disc in which the
ovarium is seated.)
1. Discaria
V. 1 0 . yj. 3
australis, Hook. B o t. Misc. v. l . p . 157. Colletia pubescens, Brongn. in A n n . Sc. N a t.
Yar. /3. a p eta la ; floribus apetalis. D. ToumatoUj Raoul, Choix de P la n te s ,p . 29. t. 29.
H a b . Yar. N o rth e rn and Middle Islan d s. E a s t coast and interior, Rkaroa, R aoul. N a t.
name, "T o um a to u ,” Raoul. (Cultivated in England.)
In Australia this plant is found from the latitude of Sydney to that of Hobart Town. M. Raoul observes, that
the spines, made into a kind of comb, are used in the operation for tattooing with charcoal.
N a t . O r d . XXII. STACKHOUSEÆ, B r .
Gen. I . STACKHOUSEA, Smith.
cis tu b u s ventricosus ; limbus 5 -p a rtitu s. R é ta la 5, erecta, linearía, soluta v, in tu b um coalita,
apicibus patentibus. Stamin a 5, calyce in serta ; filamentis filiformibus, 2 alternis longioribus. Ovarium
3-5-lobum, 3 -5 -lo c u la re ; ovubs loculis erectis, solitariis. 5, v. in uniim apice 3 -5 -fid um coaliti.
Rruetus 3 -5 -co c c u s; coccis crustaceis, 1 -spermis, in d eh iscen tib u s; embryone in a si albuminis carnosi
orthotropo ; radicula infera.
The only New Zealand species is a minute slender herb, 1-2 inches high, with filiform, sparingly divided, erecf
or procumbent stems, and alternate, scattered, linear or obovate, sharp, fleshy leaves, 2 -3 lines long. Flowers very
minute, solitary or few together towards the tops of the stems. Calyx five-lobed, with spreading segments. Corolla
tubular, of five linear erect petals, free above and below, united down the middle, their tips spreading. Stamens
five; filaments unequal, slender ; anthers hafry. Omry three-lobed, lobes one-celled, with one erect ovule; style
solitary, erect, thi-ee-cleft. Fruit of three generally unequal nuts, one or two being abortive, large for the size of
the plant, hard, indéhiscent, attached to a central column, from which they break away ; seed erect.—This Natural
Order bas hitherto been supposed to be exclusively confined to Australia, where there are two genera and about a
dozen species, aU much larger herbs than the New Zealand ones. (Name in honour of J. Stackhouse, an English
botanist and author, especially eminent for his knowledge of Seaweeds.)
1 . Stackhousia Hook. fil. ; pusilla, glaberrima, caule filiformi parce.diviso, foliis linearibus