308 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



Aralia crassifolia. Even so late as 1867, Sir J. Hooker, — the 

 greatest of all systematists, — described the mature state as 

 Panax crassifolium, and the young state as P. longissimunt, 

 and yet he had had the plant under cultivation at Kew for 

 fifteen years. 



The seedling forms of P. crassifolium have been described 

 by Kirk,'" and more fully by Dr. Cockayne. 1 In the following 

 description, drawn up from specimens gathered by us in the 

 Kaipara district, the chief stages are lettered. (a) The 

 cotyledons are persistent, with prominent swollen midrib, and 

 reddish, slightly recurved margin. (h) The first leaf is 

 somewhat leathery, linear-oblong, green, often blotched with 

 pale-brown, one or two inches in length, and irregularly 

 coarsely toothed, with a leaf-stalk one-third the length of the 

 blade, (c) The second and third leaves are linear-lanceolate, 

 with minute distant teeth. The upper surface is black-green, 

 spotted with pale brown, whilst the under surface is lighter in 

 colour. The midrib is raised on both surfaces, (d) The 

 fourth and few succeeding leaves are linear, spreading, and 

 pointed slightly upwards, with stout, distant teeth, quite 

 different from the serrations of the first leaf. The tips are 

 yellowish, the upper surface black, with green shining through 

 it, often marked with paler brown blotches. The leaves are 

 now quite stalkless, and clasp the stem with a slightly smaller 

 leaf-sheath. (e) This stage is the most remarkable, and 

 remains permanent from fifteen to twenty years. The leaves 

 are rigid and deflexed, and surround the top of the tree like 

 the ribs of a half-closed umbrella. They are of great length, 

 and extremely narrow. Kirk measured them up to 48 in. in 

 length. Their average width is about half-an-incli. They 

 are very thick and leathery in texture, with sharp tips, and 

 distant marginal teeth. The midrib is highly developed, 

 occupying nearly a third of the leaf surface, and is yellowish in 

 colour. The blade is a polished metallic black, faintly tinged 



*'■ Forest Flora," p. '260. tTrans. XXXI., p. 391. 



