Dodonea.] SAPINDACES. 103 
dicecious. Male flowers: Sepals 4, free, oblong or ovate. Stamens 
8-10, rather longer than the sepals ; filaments very short. Females : 
Sepals narrower, more erect. Style stout, 2-fid, long-exserted. 
Capsule #in. diam., compressed, orbicular, very broadly 2-3-winged, 
2-lobed at each end ; wings veined, membranous.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. 
Zel. i. 38; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 45; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 17; Studenis’ 
Fl. 94. D. spathulata, Smith in Rees Cyclop. xii. n. 2; A. Rich. 
Fil. Nowv. Zel. 308; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 599; Raowl, Choix, 47. 
NortH AnD SoutH Istanps: From the North Cape as far south as Banks 
Peninsula, chiefly in lowland districts. Akeake. September—November. 
Wood hard and heavy; formerly much used by the Maoris for making clubs, 
spears, &c. 
2. ALECTRYON, Gertn. 
A lofty tree. Leaves alternate, pinnate, exstipulate; leaflets 
entire or toothed. Flowers hermaphrodite or unisexual, in axillary 
or terminal many-flowered panicles. Calyx 4-5-lobed, villous 
within, lobes unequal, imbricate. Petals wanting. Dise small, 
8-lobed. Stamens 5-8, inserted within the lobes of the disc; 
anthers large. Ovary obliquely obcordate, compressed, 1-celled ; 
style short ; stigma simple or 2-3-lobed; ovule solitary. Capsule 
coriaceous or almost woody, subglobose, turgid, with a flattened 
prominence or crest towards the top. Seed subglobose, arillate ; 
testa crustaceous ; cotyledons spirally coiled. 
A monotypic genus confined to New Zealand. 
1. A. excelsum, Gerin. Fruct. i. 216, t. 46.—A handsome tree 
30-60 ft. high, with a trunk 2ft. in diam. or more; bark black ; 
young branches, leaves below, inflorescence, and capsules clothed 
with silky ferruginous pubescence. Leaves unequally pinnate, 
4-12in. long; leaflets 4-6 pairs, shortly petioled, 2—4in. long, 
obliquely ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, entire or obscurely remotely 
toothed, membranous. Panicles 4-12in. long, much branched. 
Anthers large, dark-red. Ovary pilose. Capsule 4-4 in. long, open- 
ing transversely but irregularly. Seed large, almost globose, jet- 
black and shining, half imbedded in a bright scarlet fleshy cup- 
shaped aril. A. Cunn. Precur. n. 598; Hook. ic. Plant. t. 570; 
Raoul, Choiz, 47; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 88; Handb. N.Z. Fi. 
45; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 92,93; Students’ Fl. 95. | 
Var. grandis, Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxiv. (1892) 409.—Leaves 
much larger, 12-18 in. long; leaflets 2-3 pairs, 5-7in. long, oblong or ovate, 
obtuse or subacute, entire or with 2-3 coarse teeth. Flowers not seen, and only 
fragments of old capsules. 
NortH anp SourH Isuanps: North Cape to Banks Peninsula and West- 
land, common. Var. grandis: Three Kings Islands, 7’. Ff. C. Ascends to 
2000 ft. Titokt. October—December. 
Yields a tough and elastic timber, valuable for axe-handles, bullock-yokes, 
&c. The Maoris formerly extracted an oil from the seeds. Var. grandis is 
doubtless a distinct species, but in the absence of flowers and fruit I hesitate to 
describe it as such. 
