Coprosma. | RUBIACER. 257 
Nortu Istanp: Hawke’s Bay, Colenso! Soutu Istanp: Nelson—Wairoa 
Gorge, Bryant and Kirk. Otago—Near Dunedin; Catlin’s River, Petrie! 
September—November. 
Nearest to C. crassifolia, from which it is separated by the less rigid habit, 
membranous leaves, and rather smaller flowers. 
26. C. virescens, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xi. (1879) 426.— 
A glabrous much-branched shrub 5-10ft. high; branches very 
slender, flexuose, spreading and interlaced; bark pale greyish- 
brown. Leaves 4-4in. long, spathulate or oblong - spathulate, 
obtuse or subacute, narrowed into a short slender petiole, mem- 
branous, quite glabrous; margins flat or slightly undulate. Stipules 
acute, ciliolate. Flowers involucellate, solitary or in 2—3-flowered 
fascicles. Male flowers: Calyx wanting. Corolla 4 in. long, cam- 
panulate, 4-partite almost to the base. Females: Calyx-limb 
obsoletely 4-toothed. Corolla shorter and narrower than in the 
males, tubular, deeply 4-lobed. Drupe + in. long, oblong, yellowish- 
white, translucent.—Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xix. (1887) 244 ; 
Kirk, Students’ Fl. 240. OC. divaricata var. pallida, Hook. f. Fl. 
Nov. Zel. 107. 
Nortu Istanp: Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay, Colenso! Souru IsnanD: 
Pelorus Sound, Rutland! Wairoa Gorge, Bryant and Kirk; Lake Forsyth, 
Kirk! various localities in Otago, Petrie! Sea-level to 1500 ft. Septem- 
ber—October. 
A very distinct species, perhaps more closely allied to C. rwbra than to any 
other. 
27. C. acerosa, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 477.—A low often exces- 
sively branched prostrate or suberect wide-spreading shrub 1-6 ft. 
high; branches straight or flexuous or zigzag, often closely inter- 
laced, younger ones puberulous; bark yellowish-brown or dark- 
brown, often fissured and uneven. Leaves in close or distant 
Opposite pairs or fascicles, +-2in. long, about ;4, in. wide, erecto- 
patent, very uniform in shape, narrow-linear, obtuse or subacute, 
veinless. Flowers axillary, terminating minute arrested branchlets, 
involucellate. Males: Solitary or in 2—4-flowered fascicles. Calyx 
wanting. Corolla 4in. long, campanulate, 4-partite to below the 
middle. Stamens 4. Females solitary. Calyx-limb minutely 
4-toothed. Corolla ;4in. long, tubular, 4-lobed. Drupe globose, 
variable in size, +4 1n., pale-blue, translucent.—Raoul, Choix, 46; 
Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 109; Handb. N.Z. Hl. 118; Cheesem. in 
Trans. N.Z. Inst. xix. (1887) 244; Kirk, Students’ Fl. 240. 
Var. a, arenaria, Kirk, l.c. 241.—Yellow-green; branches slender, wide- 
spreading, flexuous and interlaced. Leaves close-set, very narrow-linear. 
Var. 6, brunnea, Kirk, 1.c.—Dark-brown, branches fewer, short, stout, rigid. 
Leaves usually distant, shorter and more coriaceous. 
NortH anp SoutH Isnanps, STEWART ISLAND, CHATHAM ISLANDS: Common 
throughout, var. a chiefly on sand-dunes, var. b in hilly or mountain districts, 
ascending to 4000 ft. Tatarahake. September-November. 
Easily recognised by the peculiar habit, extremely narrow leaves, and sky- 
blue drupe. 
9—F'. 
