166 MYRTACEA. [Metrosideros. 
very ‘coriaceous.; petioles short, stout, glabrous or puberulvus., 
Flowers dark-scarlet, very abundantly produced, in broad and 
dense terminal many-flowered cymes; peduncles and pedicels 
short, stout, pubescent. _ Calyx-tube short, obconic; lobes short 
and broad, triangular, Petals exceeding the calyx-lobes, orbicular. 
Ovary adnate to the base of the calyx-tube and included within 
it during the flowering stage. Capsule small, oblong, +-1in. long, 
half-superior, girt round the middle by the rim of the calyx-tube, 
the free upper part loculicidally 3-valved.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. 
i. 68, t. 17; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 72; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 128; Students’ 
#1. 162. M. florida, Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 4471 (not of Smith). 
Var. retusa, Kirk, 1.c.—Leaves shorter, 4-2in. long, elliptic, rounded at 
both ends, retuse.—Two specimens in Mr. Kirk’s herbarium, from Lowry Bay, 
Wellington. 
NortH AND SoutH Istanps: Abundant in forests from the North Cape south- 
wards to Marlborough, Nelson, and Westland. Sea-level to 3000 ft. Rata. 
December—January. 
A magnificent tree, sometimes reaching a gigantic size, specimens having 
been measured with trunks over 20ft. diam. It usually (but not invariably) 
commences life as an epiphyte in the upper branches of some tall forest-tree, 
sending to the ground aerial roots, which coalesce and form a trunk after the 
death of the supporting plant. Terrestrial specimens are frequently seen, but 
these either have no trunk at all, keeping during life the habit of a much- 
branched bushy shrub, or produce a short, straight trunk of no great size. 
The timber is strong, hard, and durable, and is much employed for wheel- 
wrigh:s’ work, framework for machinery, wagons, &c., and for shipbuilding. 
9. M. tomentosa, 4. fich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 336, t. 37.— Usually 
a much-branched tree 30-70ft. high, with a short stout trunk 
9-5 ft. diam., and large wide-spreading branches, but sometimes 
dwarfed to a few feet in height; branchlets stout, terete, tomen- 
tose. Leaves decussate, very variable in size and shape, 1—4in. 
long, lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate to oblong or broadly oblong, 
acute or obtuse, rounded at the base, very thick and coriaceous, 
usually clothed with white tomentum beneath, rarely glabrous; 
margins flat or recurved ; petioles short, stout. Flowers large, dark- 
crimson, in broad terminal many-flowered cymes; peduncles and 
pedicels stout, and with the calyces clothed with dense white 
tomentum. Calyx-tube obconic; lobes short, deltoid. Petals 
oblong, obtuse, exceeding the calyx-tube. Stamens numerous, 
14-I4in. long. Ovary 3-celled, adnate to the base of the calyx- 
tube, and sunk within it during the flowering stage. Capsule $in. 
long, half-superior, woody, tomentose, girt round the middle by the 
persistent calyx-limb, the free upper part loculicidally 3-valved.— 
A. Cunn. Precur.n. 558; Raoul, Choix, 49; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. 
i. 68; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 72; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 118; Students’ 
Fil. 163. 
Norru Isuanp: Abundant along the coast from the Three Kings Islands 
and the North Cape to Poverty Bay and Urenui (Taranaki). Inland at Lake 
Tarawera, Lake Taupo, and Waikaremoana. Sea-level to 2000 ft. Pohu- 
tukawa; Christmas-tree. December—January. 
