Phebalium.} RUTACEX, 93 
As defined by Hooker and Bentham in the ‘‘ Genera Plantarum,’’ this is a 
large and heteromorphous order, comprising between 80 and 90 genera and 
nearly 700 species. Most of the species are either tropical or inhabit South 
Africa or Australia. They are comparatively rare in the north temperate zone. 
The chief characteristic of the order is the presence of an essential oil, which is 
usually abundant in the leaves and young growing parts, often giving them an 
aromatic odour and bitter or pungent taste. The orange, lemon, citron, lime, 
&e., are the chief economic species. The two New Zealand genera are also 
found in Australia, and Melicope extends into the Pacific islands as well. 
‘Leaves simple, peticle terete. Flowers 5-merous .. 1. PHEBALIUM. 
Leaves compound, or if simple with the petioles winged. 
Flowers 4-merous .. Bc Be ae .. 2. MBLICOPE. 
1. PHEBALIUM, Vent. 
Shrubs. Leaves alternate, simple, entire or slightly toothed, 
pellucid-dotted. Flowers usually in axillary or terminal corymbs, 
rarely solitary. Calyx small, 5-lobed or -partite. Petals 5, imbri- 
cate or valvate. Stamens 8-10, longer cr shorter than the petals; 
filaments filiform, glabrous. Ovary 2-5-partite almost to the base ; 
style simple ; stigma small, capitellate ; ovules 2 in each cell, super- 
posed. Cocci 2-5, truncate or rostrate; endocarp cartilaginous and 
separating elastically. Seeds usually solitary. 
A genus of 28 species, all of which are confined to Australia with the ex- 
ception of the present one, which is endemic in New Zealand. 
1. P. nudum, Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 568.—A graceful much- 
branched perfectly glabrous shrub 4-12 ft. high; branchlets 
slender, with reddish bark. Leaves alternate, 1-14 in. long, linear- 
oblong or narrow oblong-lanceolate, coriaceous, obtuse, obscurely 
crenate, narrowed into short petioles or almost sessile, pellucid- 
dotted. Flowers 4in. diam., white, fragrant, in terminal many- 
flowered corymbs ; pedicels short, scurfy. Calyx very small, with 
®) broad lobes. Petals 5, lanceolate or linear, obtuse ; margins 
involute. Stamens much longer than the petals. Cocci 1-4, but 
usually only 1 or 2 ripen, obtusely rhomboid, wrinkled, splitting 
into 2 valves.—Raoul, Choiz, 48; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 44; 
Handb. N.Z. Fl. 39; Kirk, Students’ Fl. 85. 
Nortu Istanp: Hilly forests from Kaitaia southwards to the Thames 
River, ascending to 2500 ft. Mairehau. October-December. 
Highly aromatic in all its parts. The flowers have been used for the ex- 
traction of a perfume. 
2. MELICOPEH, Forst. 
Trees or shrubs. Leaves opposite or alternate, simple or 
3-foliolate, rarely pinnate, pellucid-dotted. Flowers usually small, 
often unisexual, in axillary or terminal few- or many-flowered 
cymes or panicles. Sepals 4. Petals 4, valvate or imbricate, with 
inflexed tips. Stamens 8, inserted at the base of the disc; filaments 
subulate. Ovary 4-lobed almost to the base, 4-celled; style single 
