Hymenanthera. | VIOLARIH A. 49 
axillary; peduncles shorter than the flowers, decurved, with one or 
two broad concave bracts below the middle. Sepals orbicular, with 
fimbriate margins. Petals narrow-oblong, obtuse, recurved at the 
apex. Anthers 5, the broad membranous connectives connate into 
a tube which has a fimbriate projection above each anther and a 
broad scale at the back. Ovary 1-celled; style 2-fid. Berry 
purplish, broadly oblong, }-4in. diam.; seeds 2.—Handb. N.Z. 
fl. 18; Kirk, Students’ Fl. 44. Scevola (?) nove-zealandie, 
A. Cunn. Precur. n. 429. 
Nortu Istanp: Maritime rocks opposite the Cavallos Islands, R. Cun. ; 
~Cape Palliser, Colenso! Port Nicholson, Kirk! Sours Istanp: Coast be- 
tween Nelson and Croixelles Harbour, Kirk! T. #.OC.; Pelorus Sound, J. 
fiutland ; Banks Peninsula, Armstrong. Otago— Hampden, Moeraki, Dun- 
edin, Balclutha, Petrie! Stewart Istanp: Kirk. October—November. 
A variable plant. One of Mr. Colenso’s Cape Palliser specimens has slender 
branches bearing ovate-rhomboid leaves 1 in. long, the same branch also having 
linear-obovate leaves of the ordinary type. 
2. H. dentata, &. br., var. angustifolia, Benth. Fl. Austral. 
1, 104.—A much-branched frequently leafless rigid shrub, in shel- 
tered situations 4—Sft. high, with flexuous or zigzag often inter- 
laced branches; in exposed or alpine places shorter and mucb 
dwarfed, with the branches densely compacted and ending in stout 
thorns. Branchlets terete or grooved, covered with minute lenticels. 
Leaves few or many, often altogether wanting, alternate or fascicled, 
4-? in. long, linear or linear-cuneate or linear-obovate, obtuse or 
retuse, entire or sinuate or irregularly lobed, varying from almost 
membranous to thick and coriaceous, narrowed into very short 
petioles. Flowers minute, solitary or geminate, on very short 
decurved peduncles, dicecious. Male flowers: Sepals rounded, 
with fimbriate margins. Petals twice as long as the sepals, linear- 
oblong, recurved at the tips. Connective of the anthers with a 
narrow appendage toothed or fimbriate at the tip, and an oblong 
scale at the back. Females: Calyx and petals of the males, but 
rather smaller. Abortive anthers present. Style 2-fid. Berry 
2-seeded ; seeds oblong, flat on the inner face, convex on the outer. 
—Kirk, Students’ Fl. 44. 
Var. alpina, Kirk, /.c.—Much depressed, 1-2 ft. in diam., forming a mass 
of densely compacted short and thick spinous branches. Leaves 4+ in. long, 
oblong- or linear-obovate, very thick and coriaceous. 
Norra Isuanp: Wellington —Turangarere, 4. Hamilton! Upper Rangi- 
tikei, Petrie! Sours Istanp : Nelson—Wairoa Valley, Bryant ! Wangapeka 
Valley, Wairau Gorge, /’. #. C. Canterbury—J. B. Armstrong. Otago— 
Paradise, near Mount Harnslaw, Kirk! Catlin’s River, Kelso, Petrie! Win- 
ton, B. C. Aston! Var. alpina: Broken River, Canterbury, Kirk! Enys! 
T. F.C. Also found in Tasmania. 
In its usual state this curious plant is best distinguished from H. crassifolia 
by the more slender frequently leafless branches, which are usually thickly 
‘dotted with minute lenticels, and by the narrower leaves. The Nelson speci- 
mens, which are the only ones I have seen in flower, are certainly diccious, 
‘ut Tasmanian specimens are said to be hermaphrodite. 
