Plate 173.— PIMELEA BUXIFOLIA. 



Family THYMEL^ACEiE.] [Genus PIMELEA, Banks & Sol. 



Pimelea buxifolia, Hook. f. Hamlh. N.Z. Fl. 243 ; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 610. 



This handsome shrub was first collected by Dr. Dieffenbach, the naturalist 

 to the New Zealand Company, during his travels in the North Island in the years 

 1839 to 1841. The exact locality is not known, but, judging from his itinerary, it 

 must have been somewhere in the vicinity of Lake Taupo. In 1845 Mr. Colenso 

 gathered it in his first attempt to cross the Ruahine Range, and again in 1847 near 

 the base of Tongariro. Specimens from all these localities were in the hands of 

 Sir J. D. Hooker when preparing his " Flora Novae Zelandia?," but were confounded 

 with P. Gnidia. In the subsequently published " Handbook " he corrected the 

 mistake, and described the species under the name it now bears. 



Pimelea huxifolia has a somewhat limited range. Its northern limit, as far 

 as is known at present, is on the mountains near the head of the Tairua River, 

 Thames, where it was collected several years ago by the late Mr. J. Adams. It 

 is plentiful on Hikurangi Mountain, in the East Cape district, and grows in great 

 profusion on the central volcanic plateau surrounding Tongariro and Ruapehu. 

 It is, in fact, one of the characteristic species of the subalpine scrub on the lower 

 slopes of these mountains, at an altitude of 3,500 ft. to 5,500 ft. It occurs on the 

 Kaimanawa and Ruahine Mountains, and also on Kaweka Mountain, in Hawke's 

 Bay ; but, curiously enough, has not yet been recorded from the Tararua Mountains. 



As a species P. huxifolia is closely allied to P. Gnidia, but is easily distinguished 

 by the branches being hirsute with coarse hairs, whereas they are glabrous in 

 P. Gnidia. The floral leaves of P. huxifolia are usually more conspicuous than in 

 P. Gnidia. The " evident " lateral nerves of the leaf, referred to by Hooker as 

 a " good character," are sometimes decidedly conspicuous (see fig. I of the 

 accompanying plate), but, unfortunately, the plant varies greatly in that respect, 

 and the veins are frequently very obscure. 



Pimelea huxifolia bears two forms of flowers. The first, which may be called 

 the male, has a longer and narrower perianth ; the stamens are decidedlv exserted 

 and have large anthers producing plenty of pollen ; and the style, with its small 

 stigma, is barely exserted beyond the perianth-tube. The second, which bears 

 abundant fruit, has a shorter and broader perianth, conspicuously swollen at the 

 base ; the stamens are not exserted, and the anthers are small, producing either 

 a small quantity of pollen or none at all ; and the style, which bears a large papillose 

 stigma, is conspicuously exserted. I have not seen hermaphrodite flowers similar 

 to those figured in the previous plate of P. longifolia. 



Plate 173. P>»ielea buxijoUa, diawu from specimens collected near the base of Ngaumhoe : alt. 

 4,000 ft. Fig. 1. leaf (x 3) ; 2, male flower, with long stamens and slioit style ( x 4) ; 3, perianth laid 

 open ( X 4) ; 4 and .5, front and back view of anthers ( x 8) ; 6, stigma of female flower ( x 8) ; 

 7, longitudinal section of ovary of female flower (x 6) ; 8, female flower, with long style and short 

 stamens ( x 4) ; it. perianth of same laid open (x 4) ; 10 and 11, anthers from female flower, probably 

 sterile ( x 8). 



