20 A HANDBOOK OF CONIFERiE 



point, the base narrowed to a short stalk ; upper surface dark 

 green, midrib well marked, under-surface with a conspicuous 

 green midrib bordered on each side by a glaucous stomatic band, 

 each of which is again margined with green, thus making five 

 distinct alternating lines of green and silver. Male flowers or 

 catkins slender, pendent, branched, 1-1^ in. long. Ovule not 

 seen but stated to be solitary in the axils of branchlets. 



AUSTROTAXUS, Compton.^ 



A genus closely resembling Taxus and Podocarpus but differ- 

 ing from these and other taxads in its spicate male flowers. 



Austrotaxus spicata, Compton. 



An evergreen tree, 45-80 ft. high, with a dense bushy crown of 

 dark green foliage. Leaves like those of a Podocarpus, spirally 

 arranged, linear 2^-5 in. long, } in. wide, dark green, shortly 

 pointed, entire with the margins rolled backwards, midrib promi- 

 nent below, grooved above. 3Iale flowers in dense axillary spikes 

 about ^ in. long. Female flowers solitary, terminating short 

 bract-covered stalks. Seed, 1-1| in. long, acorn-like, enclosed, 

 except at the tip, in a fleshy aril as in yew. 



Native of New Caledonia, where it occurs in moist forests on 

 steep slopes between about 1,000-3,000 ft. elevation. 



CEPHALOTAXUS. Siebold and Zuccarini. 



Evergreen trees or shrubs closely allied to Torreya, includ- 

 ing seven species which are found in China, Japan, the Khasia 

 Mountains, and Assam. Branches opposite or in whorls. Young 

 branchlets green, prominently grooved and marked with minute 

 white stomatic dots. Buds ovate, obtuse with numerous over- 

 lapping scales. Leaves spirally arranged and spreading on 

 vertical shoots ; on lateral shoots arranged in two opposite 

 ranks ; persisting three to four years, scarcely stalked, linear, 

 pointed at the apex ; upper surface dark shining green with a 

 conspicuous midrib, lower surface with two broad silvery bands 

 composed of numerous stomatic lines. Male and female flowers 

 on different trees or rarely on the same tree. Male flowers in 

 globose heads formed in autumn in the axils of the upper leaves, 

 each flower composed of several stamens enclosed in a bract. 

 Female flowers few, stalked, composed of opposite pairs of cup- 

 shaped bracts with two ovules at the base of each. Usually 

 only one of these develops into an olive-like " fruit " (seed), 

 ripening the first season, consisting of a fleshy outer covering 



1 Journ. Linn. Soe. XLV, 427, pi. 26 (1922). 



