642 CUPULIFER. (Fagus. 
A magnificent tree, undoubtedly the finest representative of the genus in 
New Zealand, and well marked off by the comparatively thin veined leaves 
with sharply toothed margins. Wood dark-red, strong and compact, more 
durable than that of the other species, and frequently used for wharves, bridges, 
fencing-posts, &ec. 
3. F. apiculata, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 335,—A 
tall handsome tree 40 ft. high or more; trunk 2 ft. diam.; bark 
pale, smooth; branchlets pubescent. Leaves petiolate, $-1 in. long, 
oblong or ovate-oblong or elliptic-oblong, apiculate, cuneate at the 
base, rather thin, glabrous, quite entire or minutely or,irregularly 
crenulate, veins not very conspicuous ; stipules membranous, 
linear-oblong. Male flowers 1 or rarely 2 at the end of a short 
axillary peduncle, drooping. Perianth campanulate, membranous, 
5-toothed. Stamens 8-14. Female involueres solitary in the axils 
of the leaves above the male inflorescence, 2—3-flowered. Fruiting 
involucres +-4in. long, narrow-ovoid, pubescent, 4-lobed ; lobes 
with 2-4 transverse lamelle. Nuts pubescent, 2-3-winged, wings 
produced upwards into entire points.— Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 135. 
Var. dubia.—Leaves more coriaceous, oblong or oblong-obovate, obtuse or 
rarely apiculate, slightly pubescent beneath, upper half obscurely toothed or 
sinuate.—F’. fusca, var. dubia and var. obsoleta, Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 91. 
Norru Isutanp: Hawke’s Bay—Forests near Dannevirke and Norsewood, 
Colenso! Var. dubia: Mungaroa and other localities near Wellington, Kirk ! 
November—December. 
Very closely related to F. fusca, but I think sufficiently distinct in the 
smaller and narrower leaves which in the typical form are distinctly apiculate 
and either quite entire or very minutely crenulate, and in the smaller and 
narrower involucres. Var. dubia was placed under F’. fusca by Kirk, and it 
certainly approaches var. Colensoi of that species; but, on the whole, appears 
to be nearer to F’. apiculata. 
4, F. Blairii, T. Kork in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvii. (1885) 297.—A 
tall tree 40-60 ft. high ; trunk 2-3 ft. diam.; branchlets and petioles 
pubescent. Leaves petiolate, spreading, 2-2in. long, 4-4in. broad, 
ovate, acute or apiculate, rounded at the base, quite entire, cori- 
aceous, glabrous above, beneath clothed with fulvous appressed 
tomentum. Flowers not seen. Fruiting involucre ++in. long, 
ovoid, glabrous, 4-lobed; lobes with 3-4 membranous transverse 
lamella. Nuts 3-winged, broad at the base, narrowed above.— 
Forest Fl. t. 57. 
NorrH Isuanp: Forests near the source of the Wanganui River, Kirk! 
‘Sourn Isutanp: Nelson—Wairau Valley, Buller Valley, Little Grey River, Kirk! 
Otago—-Five-fingers Plain, W. N. Blair; Martin’s Bay, Buchanan; Lake 
Wakatipu, Valley of the Dart, Kirk ! 1000-2500 ft. 
An imperfectly known plant, apparently differing from F’. Solandri in the 
broader ovate apiculate leaves, fulvous pubescence, and 4-valved fruiting invo- 
lucre. Some specimens without flower or fruit, collected by Petrie near Arrow- 
town, Otago, agree with F’. Blairii in the thick fulvous pubescence on the under- 
surface of the leaves, but the leaves are more oblong and obscurely toothed or 
sinuate, much as in F’. apiculata var. dubia. 
