Cheeseman. — On the Genus Coprosma. 221 



species, and is generally under 4 feet in height. C. spathulata 

 and C. rhamnoides have an average height of from 4 to 6 or 

 8 feet. C. acerosa has long and flexuous branches, often (in 

 the typical form) much and closely interlaced, forming a dense 

 bush 2 to 4 feet high ; but some states of it are prostrate and 

 sparingly branched. C. depressa is prostrate or sub-prostrate, 

 and often under 1 foot in height. C. repens and C. petriei are 

 the smallest species of the genus. They have jprostrate and 

 rooting, almost herbaceous, stems, closely appressed to the 

 ground, and frequently only a few inches long. 



The arrangement and disposition of the branches oc- 

 casionally afford characters of importance : thus C. areolata 

 can be at once distinguished fi'om its nearest allies (C tenui- 

 cauUs and C. rotundifolia) by its comparatively narrow and 

 almost fastigiate outline. The mode of branching of C. pro- 

 pinqua, C. parviflora, C. acerosa, and others is characteristic of 

 the species, and gives important aid in their identification. 



Leaves, — In Coprosma, as in so many Eubiacea, the leaves 

 are invariably opposite, entire, petiole, or sub-sessile, and 

 connected by interpetiolar stipules. In size there is consider- 

 able range. C. grandifoUa often has them as much as 9 inches 

 in length, while in r'. repens and C. petriei they are frequently 

 under ^ inch. The large-leaved species C. (jrayulifolia, C. lucida, 

 C. rohusta, C. haueriana, etc., have a well-developed many- 

 flowered inflorescence, and thus form a fairly well-characterized 

 section of the genus. In the small-leaved species the flowers 

 are either arranged in few-flowered fascicles or are solitary. 

 As to shape, the leaves may be orbicular, ovate, oblong, 

 lanceolate, or even linear. In the same species there is often 

 considerable diversity of shape, and in C. rhamnoides leaves 

 varying from orbicular to linear may be observed on the same 

 bush. C. serrulata has the margins of the leaves minutely 

 serrulate. All the other members of the genus have them 

 quite entire when mature, but in some the very young leaves 

 are obscurely incised. This is well seen in C. rohusta. The 

 texture varies considerably — from very coriaceous in C. lucida, 

 C. rohusta, and C. crassifolia to comparatively thin and mem- 

 branous in C. rotundifolia and C. tenuifolia. The venation is 

 pinninerved, at any rate in the great majority ; but some of the 

 small-leaved species have few lateral veins, although the midrib 

 is always conspicuous and well developed. The veins frequently 

 anastomose, in some forming copious minute reticulations, as 

 in C. tenuifoHa ; in others larger areoles, as in C. areolata and 

 C. tenuicaulis. All the species have a stout vein running round 

 the whole of the margin of the leaf, and often giving it a 

 thickened appearance. 



In nearly all the species, except a few of the smaller-leaved 

 ones, curious little pits exist on the under-surface of the leaves, 



