PLATE 41.—CARPODETUS SERRATUS. 
(THE PUTAPUTAWETA.) 
Famity SAXIFRAGACE. | [Genus CARPODETUS, Forst. 
Carpodetus serratus, Forst. Char. Gen. 34, t. 174; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 137. 
This plant was first collected by Banks and Solander at Totaranui (Queen 
Charlotte Sound) during Cook’s first visit to New Zealand, but as their specimens 
did not show either flowers or fruit they were unable to indicate its affinities. It 
was again met with in the same locality by Forster in Cook’s second voyage ; and 
as on this occasion both flowers and fruit were observed he was able to publish 
the plant in his ‘‘ Characteres Generum”’ under the name of Carpodetus serratus. 
But his description is very meagre, and the plate so badly executed as to give 
little idea of the characters of the genus. A much better description, drawn u 
from Forster’s specimens, appears in A. Richard’s “ Essai d’une Flore de la Nouvelle 
Zélande.” Since then Carpodetus has been shown to be pretty generally distributed 
throughout the Dominion, from the North Cape to Stewart Island, and from 
sea-level to nearly 3,000 ft. altitude. 
Like Izxerba, Carpodetus is a monotypic genus confined to New Zealand. Its 
affinities have been a matter of discussion, but botanists are now generally agreed 
that it belongs to the tribe Hscalloniew, and it is usually placed near the 
New Caledonian and Australian genus Argophyllum, to which in fact it is very 
closely allied. 
Carpodetus is a small tree, sometimes 30 ft. in height, with a trunk 6in. to 9in, 
in diameter. The foliage is curiously blotched or marbled with brown or yellowish 
markings, and the flowers are white and fragrant. The timber is strong and 
tough, but, unfortunately, by no means durable. It is frequently perforated in all 
directions by large galleries, probably made by the larve of wood-boring Lepidoptera, 
and these borings often form a secure home for the weta (Deinacrida thoracica), 
a large and repulsive-looking orthopterous insect. According to Mr. Elsdon Best, 
the name applied to Carpodetus in the Urewera district is Kaiweta, or “ weta- 
food,” the Maoris assuming that the wetas construct the galleries in which they 
are so often found. 
Puate 41. Carpodetus serratus, drawn from specimens collected in the vicinity of Auckland. 
Fig. 1, flower-bud (x 4); 2, flower (x 4); 3, calyx, with ovary and style (x5); 4 and 5, front and 
back view of stamens (x8); 6, longitudinal section of ovary (x5); 7, transverse section of 
ovary (x 5); 8, fruit (x 3); 9, section of fruit, showing seeds (x 3); 10, seeds (x 5). 
