566 VERBENACEE, [Teucridiwm. 
A peculiar monotypic genus confined to New Zealand. Although allied to 
Vitex, it has the anomalous character of a 4-lobed ovary, thus showing an 
approach to the Labiate. 
1. T. parvifolium, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 203, t. 49.—An 
erect much-branched shrub 2-5 ft. high ; branches slender, twiggy, 
more or less pubescent. Leaves rather distant, petiolate ; blade 
1_tin. long, ovate or orbicular-ovate or ovate-spathulate, obtuse, 
membranous ; petioles short, equalling the blade. Flowers about 
tin. long; peduncles short, 2-bracteolate. Calyx-lobes subulate. 
Corolla bluish, hairy. Fruiting-calyx +in. diam.—Handb. N.Z. 
Fl. 224, 
NortH anp SoutH Istanps: Lowland districts from Whangaroa North to 
Otago, rare and local. October—January. 
3. AVICENNIA, Linn. 
Littoral shrubs or small trees. Leaves opposite, quite entire, 
coriaceous. Flowers in contracted pedunculate cymes in the axils 
of the upper leaves or in trichotomous corymbs at the ends of 
the branches. Calyx short, 5-partite, unchanged in fruit. Corolla- 
tube short and broad ; limb of 4 or 5 nearly equal spreading lobes. 
Stamens 4, inserted on the throat of the corolla; filaments short; 
anthers shortly exserted, ovate, cells parallel. Ovary imperfectly 
4-celled by a 4-winged central column ; ovules 4, pendulous between 
the wings of the column; style usually short, bifid. Capsule broad, 
compressed, coriaceous, 1-celled, 2-valved. Seed solitary, erect, 
consisting of a large embryo with the usual integuments very feebly 
developed ; cotyledons large, folded longitudinaliy; radicle inferior, 
villous; plumule conspicuous, germinating before the fall of the 
fruit. 
A genus comprising 2 or 3 very closely related species, widely spread along 
the shores of most tropical or subtropical countries. 
1. A. officinalis, Linn. Sp. Plant. 110.—A shrub or small tree 
from 8 or 4 ft. to 15 or 25 ft. high or even more; roots putting up a 
multitude of stout asparagus-like suckers; branches spreading, the 
younger ones pubescent. Leaves 2-4in. long, ovate or elliptic- 
oblong or ovate-lanceolate, usually acute, narrowed into a short 
petiole, glabrous above and black when dry, hoary with a short 
dense pubescence beneath. Cymes contracted into small heads on 
erect angular peduncles. Flowers small, about +in. diam. Bracts 
and calyx-segments densely silky-tomentose. Corolla 4-lobed ; 
lobes coriaceous, ovate, acute, silky externally. Ovary hairy. 
Capsule large, about 1in. diam,—Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 224; 
Benth. Fl. Austral. v. 69; Kirk, Horest Fl. t. 180. A. tomentosa, 
Jacq. Enum. Pl. Carib. 25; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 389 ; Raoul, Choix, 
43; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 204. A. resinifera, Forst. Pl. Escul. 
72; Prodr. n. 246; A. Rich. Fl. Nowv. Zel. 195. 
