12 FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND. [ Magnoliacea. 
Gen. IV. CALTHA, Pers. 
Sepala 5, colorata, petaloidea. Petala 0. Stamina 00. Ovaria 5-10.  Carpella compressa, 
patentia, 1-locularia, 00-sperma. 
Hitherto this genus, though found in Chili and Fuegia, was unknown in the southern hemisphere of the Old 
World. Several species are common to Europe and North America, two are found in the Himalaya Mountains, 
and three others in the southern extreme of America. None have been discovered in Van Diemen’s Land. The pre- 
sent species is an instance of the similarity that exists amongst the productions of the opposite temperate 
regions. It is distinguished from Ranunculus most obviously by its many-seeded carpels. (Name from xahados, a 
cup, which the flowers of the European species resemble.) 
1. Caltha Nove-Zelandie, Hook. fil.; pusilla, foliis longe petiolatis late oblongis integerrimis v. ob- 
scure sinuato-crenatis profunde sagittatis appendicibus sursum inflexis apice rotundatis emarginatis v. bi- 
lobis, scapo 1-floro, sepalis 5-7 deciduis linearibus, staminibus 00, carpellis sub-7, seminibus plurimis. 
Tas. VI. 
Has. Northern Island. Tops of the Ruahine Mountains, Colenso. 
A small succulent herb, with radical spreading leaves, and a single one-flowered short erect scape.  Pe- 
tioles stout, 1-3 inches long, with broad membranous sheathing bases; lamina 3-1 inch broad, oblong or 
almost fiddle-shaped, deeply cut into two inflexed lobes at the base, the apex rounded, notched, or two-lobed. 
Flowers yellow, 3-1 inch broad. Sepals five to seven, linear, rather acute. Stamens numerous. Ovaries about as 
many as the sepals, broadly ovate, gibbous, with a hooked short style and many ovules.—In foliage this is most 
nearly allied to Caltha sagittata of Fuegia, and in its curious long petals to C. appendiculata of the same country; it 
is, in fact, intermediate between these species.—PrATE VI. Fig. 1, flower; 2, sepal; 3, stamen; 4, ovary; 5, head 
of carpels; 6, capsule :—all but fig. 5 magnified. 
Nar. Og». II. MAGNOLIACEA, DC. 
Gen. I. DRIMYS, Forst. a 
Carpella baccata, polysperma. Filamenta apice incrassata, antherarum loculis discretis. 
The only New Zealand species forms a small evergreen slender tree, 10-30 feet high, with black bark; 
branching at the top and leafy ; very aromatic and peppery in all parts; growing generally in dense forests. Leaves 
variable in size, 1-6 inches long, elliptical-ovate, blunt, on short petioles, quite entire, bright green above, purplish 
or glaucous below, midrib hairy at the back. Flowers small, axillary or from scars on the branchlets, solitary or 
two or three together; pedicels 1—4 lines long, slender. Calyx, a three- to six-lobed disc. Petals six, unequal, 
linear, 2-3 lines long. Stamens eight to ten, in several series. Ovaries about three, sessile, one-celled, with several 
ovules. Fruit of one to three berries; each as large as a pepper-corn, containing five to six angled seeds. (Name 
from Opis, pungent.) 
1. Drimys avillaris, Forster. DC. Prodr. v. 1. p. 78. 4. Rich. Flora. A. Cunn. Prodr. Hook. 
Te. Plant. t. 576. D. colorata, Raoul, Choix de Plantes, p. 24. t. 23. 
Has. Throughout the islands; abundant in forests, Forster, etc. Fl. November. Fr. May, June. 
Nat. name, “ Horopito," Colenso. (Cult. in England.) 
The nearest allies of this plant are the D. Winteri (or Winter's Bark) of Fuegia, and the Tasmannia aromatica 
of Van Diemen’s Land, which are its representatives in those countries respectively. Al are highly aromatic, 
whence the medicinal use of the D. Winteri as a stomachic and antiscorbutic (Fl. Antarct. vol. ii. p. 229), and the 
economic value of Tasmannia, which was used as pepper by the early colonists of Van Diemen’s Land. I cannot 
distinguish the D. colorata of M. Raoul from Forster’s plant. 
