Muehlenbeckia. | POLYGONACEA. 593 
Leaves petiolate, exceedingly variable in size and shape, even on 
the same plant, 4—$in. long or more, broadly oblong or obovate or 
orbicular, rounded or retuse: at the tip, rarely subacute, cordate or 
truncate or rounded at the base, often contracted in the middle, 
sometimes 3-lobed, quite smooth, glabrous or the petiole puberulous, 
coriaceous or almost membranous, margins even, entire; stipules 
deciduous. Spikes axillary and terminal, jong or short, simple or 
compound, glabrous or puberulous, sometimes reduced to 2 or 3 
flowers, at other times forming a panicle 1-1$in. long or more. 
Flowers small, dicecious. Stamens 8. Stigmas very broad, fimbriate. 
Fruiting-perianth much enlarged, often +4in. diam., succulent, 
waxy-white, forming a fleshy cup surrounding the fruit, in some 
varieties unaltered and herbaceous. Nut black, shining, deeply 
triquetrous.—Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fil. 236. M. microphyila, Col. 
m Trans. N.Z. Inst. xx. (1888) 204. M. paucifolia, M. trilobata, 
and M. truncata, Col. l.c. xxi. (1889) 99-101. Polygonum com- 
plexum, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 357; Raoul, Choix, 42; Hook. fet. 
Nov. Zel. i. 210. 
NortH anp SoutH Istanps: Abundant throughout, ascending to 2000it. 
Pohuehue. November—April. 
Varying much in the size and shape of the leaves, the degree of development 
of the spikes, and the extent to which the perianth enlarges and becomes fleshy 
in fruit. Mr. Colenso made no less than 4 species, based mainly on varia- 
tions in the above characters, but his own specimens show how inconstant 
these distinctions are, and how little they can be relied upon. 
3. M. axillaris, Walp. Ann. 1. 552.—A small much-branched 
prostrate or diffuse shrubby plant, usually forming densely matted 
patches 3-12in. diam., but sometimes open and straggling; stems 
and branches woody; branchlets puberulous. Leaves on rather 
long petioles, small, ;—3in. long, broadly oblong or ovate-oblong 
or almost orbicular, obtuse or retuse, rounded at the base, flat, 
quite glabrous, dotted beneath. Flowers small, solitary or 2 
together in the axils of the leaves, or the males rarely forming short 
few-flowered spikes at the ends of the branchlets; pedicels slender. 
Stigmas fimbriate. Perianth succulent in fruit or almost unaltered. 
Nut triquetrous with obtuse angles, black, smooth and shining, 
rather longer than the perianth.—Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 236: 
Benth. Fl. Austral. v. 275. M. hypogea, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. 
xxi. (1889) 98. Polygonum axillare, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 211. 
Nortu Isuanp: Mountain districts in the interior, from Taupo and the 
East Cape southwards. SourH IsLanp: Common in mountain districts 
throughout. Sea-level to 4500 ft. December—March. 
Also found in Tasmania and Australia, and reported from Lord Howe 
Island. 
4. M. ephedrioides, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 211.—A much- 
branched prostrate shrub; stems 9-36 in. long or more, rigid and 
wiry, deeply grooved, leafless and rush-like or sparingly leafy ; 
