ERICACEAE. 291 
PERNETTYA. 
(Family Ericaceae). 
Small shrubs: evergreen. Twigs 
very slender, terete, more or less 
puberulent and sparsely stiff-hairy, 
at first green: pith minute, round- 
ish, somewhat spongy. Buds 
small, solitary, sessile, ovoid or 
round, flattened, with 2 outer 
scales. Leaf-scars alternate, min- 
ute, obtusely 3-sided or crescent- 
shaped, low: bundle-trace 1: sti- 
pule-scars lacking. Leaves com- 
monly twisted into one plane, 
small, simple, minutely somewhat 
toothed. Fruit axillary, commonly 
present in winter in the form of 
small berries. 
The genus Pernettya is one of 
peculiar distribution: most of its 
species are of the North American 
highlands, but it is represented 
also in New Zealand. Reasons for 
believing that there was once a direct land connection be- 
tween South America and New Zealand and Australia are 
brought together in an interesting volume by Scharff, on Dis- 
tribution and Origin of Life in America. 
1. Leaves ovate, pungently pointed. 2. 
Leaves lance-oblong. P. angustifolia. 
Z. Fruit red. _(1). P. mucronata. 
Fruit white. P. mucronata alba. 
Fruit nearly black. P. mucronata nigra. 
