KiBK. — On some New Zealand Plants. 503 



or grooved, and rigid, but rarely flexuous and twining amongst 

 other shrabs ; lastly, they may be pubescent or glabrous, while 

 very slender and very robust branchlets may sometimes be 

 developed on the same plant. 



Leaves. 



The leaves are alternate, and almost invariably of brief 

 duration. In some species they are restricted to very young 

 plants (C. williamsii), the mature state being always leafless ; 

 in others they are reduced to mere scales {C. monroi). The 

 whole plant may be leafy until the maturation of the pod, 

 when the leaves fall away in a few days (C. odorata) ; in 

 species which exhibit this pecuharity the young plants are in- 

 variably leafy. The leaves are articulated at the junction of 

 the petiole and blade, and may be 1-foliolate or pinnately 

 3-7-foliolate ; the leaflets are sessile, and may be ovate, ovate- 

 cuneate, or obloug-cuneate, orbicular, &c., but are always 

 emarginate or obcordate In a few species they are glaucous 

 beneath. In some species the leaves vary at different stages 

 of growth — in the young state 3-5-foliolate, large, distant ; but 

 on mature specimens 1-3-foliolate, small, dense, and often 

 fascicled (0. JiageUi/ormis). Generally speaking, 3- or 1-folio- 

 late leaves are the most common, but 1-, 3-, 5-, or 7-foliolate 

 leaves may be found on the same plant. They are often 

 pubescent m the young state. 



Inflorescence. 



The flowers are developed in the alternate notches which 

 are formed on each margin of the branchlets. They are usually 

 arranged in racemes, which, by non-development of their 

 internodes, are often much shortened, and frequently reduced 

 to fascicles. The flowers are rarely solitary (C. uniflora), 

 when the peduncles are elongated and very slender ; or in 

 2-5-flowered racemes (C nana), or 10-40-flowered (C. odorata). 

 Occasionally the racemes are crowded, forming a false corymb. 

 The rhachis and pedicels may be glabrous, puberulous, or 

 silky ; usually the pedicels carry one or more bracfclets. 



The flowers are constructed on the ordinary papilionaceous 

 type, and vary in size from j^in. to lin. in length, and may be 

 pendulous or erect. In colour they may be of a dull red or 

 yellow, violet, or lighter shades of purple, or very pale purple 

 with darker streaks and markings ; very rarely they are pure 

 white. Those of a red tinge are almost invariably produced 

 on species of extremely dwarf habit. 



The calyx may be truncate, campanulate, or almost 

 tubular, while the sinus between the teeth may be broadly 

 rounded, or simply acute. Sometimes the teeth are ex- 



