170 NEW ZEALAND PLANTS. 
(Weinmmanma racemosa), called “‘red-birch’’ in Westland, is very 
common, and belongs to the Cunoniaceae, a most closely related 
family. 
The sundews (Drosera) belong to the family Droseraceae. There 
are 6 New Zealand species in the genus. 
To the laurel family (Lawraceae) belong the genera Beilschmiedia 
(to which belong the tawa and taraire), Litsaea, and the parasitic 
Cassytha. 
The mustard or cabbage family (Cruciferae), so important in 
horticulture and agriculture, contains, as a rule, plants with rather 
insignificant flowers. Lepidiwm is the most important New Zealand 
genus of this family, and L. oleracewm (Cook’s scurvy-grass) the most 
famous plant of that genus. Attention may be called to the endemic 
Pachycladon, a genus consisting only of P. novae-zelandiae, a small 
high-mountain rock or debris plant of the rosette form. 
The Monimiaceae is represented by only 2 species—that noble 
tree the pukatea (Laurelia novae-zelandiae), of South American affinity, 
and the pigeonwood (Hedycarya arborea). 
The magnificent magnolias of America and Asia (Magnoliaceae) 
are absent from New Zealand forests, their representatives being 
shrubs with rather insignificant flowers, the pepper-tree (Drimys 
axillaris, D. colorata), and D. Traversii, of the North-western Botanical 
District, relations of the well-known Winter’s bark (Drimys Wintert) 
of South America. 
The buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) contains, besides the 
buttercups (Ranunculus), of which there are about 46 New Zealand 
species, the charming clematises (fig. 4) and an alpine genus (Caltha) 
containing 2 species, in each of which the leaf is most curiously lobed. 
The chickweed family (Caryophyllaceae) includes the subantarctic 
genus Colobanthus (10 species), Spergularia, and Claytonia. There 
are at least 26 introduced species of this family in New Zealand. 
The goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae) comprises Chenopodium, 
Artiplex, and Rhagodia, with mostly coastal species. 
The knotweed family (Polygonaceae) includes Muehlenbeckia, a 
genus of 4 species, two of which are lianes of physiognomic import- 
ance in the New Zealand landscape. 
The mistletoe family (Loranthaceae) includes various closely related 
semi-parasitic genera (Hlytranthe, Phrygilanthus, Loranthus, and 
Korthalsella). The common mistletoe (Loranthus micranthus) is now 
