Piperacea.| FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND. 227 
bracts. Perianth four-parted. Stamens four. Female capitula much smaller, more pubescent. Bractee small, 
narrow. Flowers minute, nearly sessile; perianth none, or of one to four narrow linear hairy pieces. Ovary ovate, 
compressed, with a sessile capitate stigma. Achenium inflated, crustaceous, white mottled with brown. Seed erect, 
with a coriaceous testa. (Name from eharnp, elastic, and ornuov, a stamen.) 
1. Elatostemma rugosum, A. Cunn.; carnosum, foliis sessilibus elongato-lineari-lanceolatis oblongisve 
acuminatis rugosis grosse dentatis sessilibus basi latere conico auriculato, receptaculis sessilibus v. breve 
pedunculatis axillaribus. 4. Cwnn. Prodr. Dorstenia, Banks et Sol. MSS. et Ic. 
Has. Northern Island, abundant in dark woods, Banks and Solander, etc. Nat. name, “ Paratani- 
wha,” R. Cunn. 
Nar. Ord. LXXVIII. HUPHORBIACEA, Juss. 
Gen. I. EUPHORBIA, Z. 
Involucrum urceolare v. cupulæforme, multiflorum, 4-5-fidum; lobis glandulis alternantibus. Fr. ¢ 
plurimi. Perianthium 0. Stamen 1, pedicellatum. FL. 9 solitarius. Perianthium 0 v. squamæ. Ovarium 
pedicellatum, 3-lobum, 3-loculare. Ovula loculis solitaria, pendula. Stylus 3-fidus. Capsula 3-cocca. 
An immense genus, whose species abound in Tropical regions and the Temperate climates of the Northern hemi- 
sphere, but are comparatively rare in the Southern. The only New Zealand one is a herb, with acrid milky juice ; also 
found in Norfolk Island. Everywhere quite smooth, often glaucous. Stems tufted, stout, simple, erect, 1-2 feet 
high, leafy above. Leaves spreading, alternate, narrow linear-oblong or broadly obovate, subacute, 2-3 inches long, 
yellow when dry ; floral ones short, broad. Flowers without any perianth, numerous, enclosed in involucres resembling 
a perianth, mixed with hairy filaments and flat imperfect male flowers. Jnvolucre bell-shaped, + inch across, fleshy, 
having four to five purple flat binate glands at the mouth. Male flowers numerous, included, each consisting of a 
single stamen, mounted on a pedicel, appearing like a jointed filament (the joint indicates the place where a 
perianth is produced in some species). Anthers didymous. Female flower exserted, hanging over the side of the 
involucre, pedicellate, the pedicel jointed below the ovarium, which is three-lobed, three-celled, with a trifid style 
(its arms bifid), and one pendulous ovule in each cell. Capsules of three cocci, separating from a central axis, 
splitting down the back and exposing a single albuminous pendulous seed, with a hard grey testa. Cotyledons large, 
flat. (Named from Huphorbus, a physician of Mauritania, who brought the plant into use.) 
1. Euphorbia glauca, Forst.; glaberrima, glauca, caule simplici robusto erecto superne trichotome 
ramoso folioso, foliis lineari-lanceolatis oblongis late obovatisve obtusis, floralibus latioribus, involucri 
glandulis lunatis. Forst. Prodr. A. Rich. Flora. A. Cunn. Prodr. 
Has. Throughout the Islands, common on the shores, etc., Banks and Solander, etc. Nat. name, 
* Wainatua” (Demon’s milk), Col. 
NAT. Ord. LXXIX. PIPERACEA, Rich. 
Gen. I. PIPER, Z. 
Bractee foliacex, peltate, sessiles v. decurrentes. Stigma 3—4-fidum, puberulum. 
The New Zealand Pepper is a small tree, 12-20 feet high, or sometimes a rambling shrub, with a very aro- 
matic smell ; it has been used for Tea, and for the cure of toothache ; it is found also in Norfolk Island, and belongs 
to a subgenus (Macropiper) including the very nearly allied P. latifolium of the Feejee and South Sea Islands. The 
wood is of very curious structure. Stems zigzag, jointed, quite smooth, glabrous. Leaves petiolate, 2-3 inches long, 
