Plate 182.— FAGUS APICULATA. 



Family OUPULIPER^.] [Genus FAGUt-^, Linn. 



Fagus apiculata, (hi. in Trans. N.Z. IvM. xvi (1884), 335 ; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 642. 



Fagus apiculata was first discovered by the veteran botanist Mr. Colenso in 1883, 

 in dense forests between Matamau and Dannevirke, Hawke's Bay ; and was 

 described by him in the " Transactions of the New Zealand Institute " for the same 

 year (vol. xvi, p. 335). In subsequent years he frequently visited the same locality, 

 and obtained a considerable number of flowering and fruiting specimens. Some 

 of these were communicated to Mr. T. Kirk, and formed the material from which 

 the plate given in the " Forest Flora " was prepared ; others were kindly forwarded 

 to me, and have been used in drawing the accompanying illustration. The range 

 of the species is imperfectly known. The typical state — i.e., that discovered by 

 Colenso and figured herewith — is only known for certain in the locality mentioned 

 by him ; but closely allied plants have been collected in several localities near 

 Wellington, and along the flanks of the Tararua Range. A similar plant, of 

 which I have seen no specimens, has also been recorded by Dr. Cockayne from 

 Mount Fyfe, Marlborough. 



In the " Forest Flora " Mr. Kirk restricts F. apiculata to Colenso's type, which 

 has thin apiculate almost glabrous leaves, which are nearly entire. The Wellington 

 plants mentioned above, which have more coriaceous leaves pubescent beneath and 

 with the margins obscurely toothed, were referred by him to F. fusca as varieties 

 dvhia and obsoleta. But they have the small leaves and narrow involucres of 

 F. apiculata, and are nmch more appropriately placed under it. Mr. Colenso, in his 

 original notice of the plant, quite correctly stated that it constitutes a link between 

 the species with large serrated leaves (F. Menziesii and F. fusca) and those with small 

 entire leaves {F. Solandri and F. cliff ortioides). Since then another species with 

 intermediate leaves has been described {F. Blairii, T. Kirk). But it differs from 

 all the forms of F. apiculata in the more coriaceous leaves clothed with fulvous 

 tomentum beneath. 



F. apiculata forms a tall handsome tree 40 ft. high or more, with a trunk 2 ft. in 

 diameter. The branches spread in a horizontal plane, and according to Mr. Colenso 

 are rather thinly covered with leaves. He also states that the bark of the trunk 

 is pale and smooth, of the branches dark brown with lighter-coloured spots. He 

 gives the length of the leaves as " 1 in.," but most of the specimens forwarded to 

 me have leaves rather under that size. Nothing is known of the value of the 

 timber, but probably its quality will be very similar to that of F. fusca. 



Plate 182. Fagus apiculata, drawn from specimens collected by Mr. Colenso in forests near 

 Norsewood, Hawke's Bay. Fig. 1, branchlet, with male and female flowers ( x 3) ; 2 and 3, front and 

 back view of anthers ( x 6) ; 4, bract ( x 3) ; 5, female flowers and involucre ( x 4) ; 6, a single female 

 flower removed from the involucre (x6); 7, longitudinal section of same ( x 6) ; 8, several fruits 

 enclosed within tlje involucre (x 3) ; 9, a single fruit (x .5) ; 10, seed (x 5). 



