194 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



through their digestive canals, or in what way they are 

 distributed by them. 



Pittospopum Kipkii {Kirk's Pittosijoriim) . 

 One of the most beautiful species. Bark reddish-purple. Flowers in terminal 

 umbels. Leaves narrow-linear, 2 in. -5 in. long. Epiphytal. North Island. 

 Ascends to nearly B,000 feet. 



PittospoPum crassifolium {The Thick-leaved Pittosjiorum) . 



A tree, with black bark. Shoots, sepals and under-surface of leaves covered 

 with close white hairs. Leaves coriaceous. Valves downy. Flowers in terminal 

 umbels, often solitary, deep-purple, nearly ^ in. long. Capsule round, 2-4 valved. 

 North Island, chiefly on the East Coast. Fl. Sept. 



This is a sea-side plant, and, like most species growing in 



such a position has the epidermis and cuticle of the leaves 



thickened to protect it from excessive transpiration. 



PittospoPum Eugenioides {Tlie Eugenia-like Pittosjjoniin). 



A tree sometimes 40 ft. in height, glabrous, with large corymbs of fragrant 

 flowers of a greenish-yellow hue. Leaves 2 in. -3 in. long, broadly oblong, 

 usually waved at the margins. Bark white. Capsules 2-.3-valved. Both 

 Islands. PI. Sept. -Oct. Maori name Tarata. (Name from Eugenia, a genus 

 of myrtles). 



A beautiful tree whose pale-green leaves with undulating 

 margins, emit, when bruised, a lemon-like odour. The delicate 

 venation and light-coloured, almost white, midrib add to the 

 beauty of the leaf. The Maoris mixed the resinous exudation 

 from the bark with the juice of the sow-thistle, and worked it 

 into a ball, which they chewed. In October the tree produces 

 masses of yellowish-green flowers, whose heavy honied odour 

 is almost sickly in its intensity. According to Mr. G. M. 

 Thomson, the plant is probably often self-pollinated ; but Mr. 

 Kirk points out in his Forest Flora, that, though stamens 

 and pistils are always present, one or other is often abortive, 

 so that the flowers are often practically unisexual. 



The wood of this species, like that of the other species of 

 the genus, is almost worthless. The tree is often cultivated 

 for its beauty, and is sometimes — though not so often as P. 



