Platk 161.— VI TEX LIJCENS. 



(THE PURIRI.) 



Family VERBENACEiE.l [Genus VITEX, Linn. 



Vitex lucens, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst, xxix (1897), 525 ; Vheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 565. 

 V. littoralis, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 390 (not of Decaisne) ; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i, 203. 



It was to be expected that such an important and conspicuous tree as the 

 puriri should attract the notice of the earliest European visitors to the Dominion, 

 and hence it is not at all surprising to learn that Sir Joseph Banks and Dr. Solander 

 collected it at Tolaga Bay as far back as 1769 during Cook's first visit to New 

 Zealand. The plant was excellently described by Solander in his manuscript 

 " Primitiae Florae Novae Zelandiae " under the name of Ephielis pentaphylla, and 

 a drawing of considerable artistic merit was also prepared. It is a matter of 

 common knowledge that Solander's descriptions and drawings, prepared 140 years 

 ago, still remain incdited and unpublished in the botanical department of the British 

 Museum so far as the New Zealand species are concerned. Sir J. D. Hooker, in 

 the introduction to the " Flora Novae Zelandiae," published in 1853, well remarks 

 that their non-publication was " a national loss, and to science a grievous one, 

 since had it been otherwise the botany of New Zealand would have been better 

 known fifty years ago than it is now." 



After Cook's time V. lucens does not seem to have been noticed by any 

 botanist until Allan Cunningham's visit in 1826, when he observed it on the " rocky 

 shores of the Bay of Islands, growing frequently within the range of salt water." 

 Cunningham correctly referred it to the genus Vitex, publishing it in his 

 " Precursor " under the name of V. littoralis. Unfortunately, he overlooked the 

 fact that four years previously the same name had been used by Decaisne for a 

 Malayan species. The first beginnings of European settlement brought to light 

 the economic value of the plant, and soon led to the knowledge that it had a wide 

 distribution in the northern portion of the North Island. It is now known to be 

 an abundant plant from the North Cape to the Waikato and Upper Thames, and 

 from thence in small numbers southwards to Mahia Peninsula on the east coast 

 and Cape Egmont on the west. Its altitudinal range is from sea-level to 2,500 ft. 

 In 1895 the publication of the fourth volume of the " Index Kewensis " drew 

 attention to the fact that Cunningham's name was preoccupied, and Mr. Kirk 

 consequently proposed that of V. hicens. It may be regretted, however, that he 

 did not use that of pentaphylla, proposed in Solander's manuscripts 142 years ago. 



The puriri is a large handsome tree of somewhat irregular growth, attaining 

 a height of from 40 ft. to 60 ft., or even more, with a massive trunk 3 ft. to 5 ft. in 

 diameter. It has a broad spreading crown of branches, and when forming small 

 groves, which it often does in rich warm soils, presents a very attractive and 

 ornamental appearance. The demand for its timber, however, has caused many 

 of these clumps to disappear under the attacks of the bushman's axe. The leaves 

 are on long stout petioles, and are digitately divided into 3 to 5 dark-green and 

 glossy leaflets 2 in. to 5 in. long. The flowers are abundantly produced, and are 

 arranged in axillary panicles. They are of a dull-red colour, and about 1 in. in 

 length. The calyx is cup-shaped, truncate or very obscurely toothed ; and the 

 corolla is 2-lipped, with an arched upper lip, and a deflexed 3-lobed lower fne. 

 The drupe is bright red, globose, about f in. diameter, and has a 4-celled stony 

 endocarp ; but it is rare for more than one or two of the cells to produce perfect 

 seed. 



