47r 



.. ^ 



. JJ :l J 



E. II. CO:\IPTOK: GYMNOSPERMS. 



425 



Mekandoj coniferous forest; above 3000 ft.; serpentine. 1073^2029. 



/ 



the sliortur and relatively 



broader oblong leaves Avliose mid-ribs are scarcely evident^ in tlie elongated 

 linear bracts on tlie distal part of tbo seed-pedicel, and in the more nearly 

 spherical seed without apicnlus when niaturo, Pilger (in Engler's *PfIanzen- 

 roich/ iv. 5, p. 67) refers to a specimen collected by Lecard, in the Paris 

 Herbarium^ as being I\ ferruginea D. Don, a species otherwise known only 

 from New^ Zealand. I have not seen this specimen, and cannot therefore 

 say whether it is rightly so-called or whether it should not rather belong 

 to P, ferrxiginouies, 

 catalogue. 



Guillaumin does not mention 



/ 



PoDOCAEPUS (§ Dacrycarpus) Vieillaedii Pari, lliver Cond>oui ; stream- 

 side; ; serpentine alluvium ; 50 ft. 2*^27, I saw this tree in one locality only, 

 on the banks of a small tributary of the river, near its mouth, wliere it was 

 sparingly present. Here it was a tree of 40 ft, of a narrow asymmetrical 



form?^ 



habit of growth. The leaves are remarkably dimorphic; "juvenile 



with dorsiventrally flattened branchlcts suggestive of Sequoia sempervirens 



being borne on mature trees along with "mature'' foliage which recalled 



Sequoia gigantea ; reproductive organs are borne on the branches of the 

 latter type alone. This dimorphism upsets Pilger^s clavis to the species of 

 his § Dacrycarpus (?-o,, p. 5G) : it is at least as marked' a feature in 

 P, Vieillardii as in P. hnbricata. 



P. (§ Microcarpus) USTA Brongn. &Gris. Ignambi ; high forest; gneiss ; 

 3500 ft. 1545, This curious j^lant was seen on one occasion only, and then 

 in very small quantity. 



P. (§ Nageia) minok Park Mt. Mou j coniferous forest; serpentine; 

 3500ft. Ignambi; coniferous forest; gneiss; 3500ft. GOT, 1524, 1587. 

 Balansa's notes^ as quoted by Brongniart and Gris and copied by Pilger, 

 refer to P. m'uior as a shrub of about 1 m. in height. My specimens^ how- 

 ever, which match the type (Vieillard 1275) perfectly, were collected from 

 trees of 40-50 ft. in height. The nanie P. minor is therefore something of 

 a misnomer. The tree is a frequent constituent of the conifer forest above 

 3000 ft. all over New Caledonia. The wood has a sweet resinous scent, and 

 the ripe seeds arc bright red. 



(§ Eupodocarpus) xov.E-CALEDONiiE Vieill. ex Brongn. & 



Ri\ 



'^ers 



Dumbea, Comboui, Carenage, etc* ; abundant along river-banks in serpentine 

 districts at low altitudes. 402, 419, 2017, 21G9. This shrub is characteristic 

 of serpentine riversides, where it is associated with other narrow-leaved 



