Palma.) FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND. 261 
spermis, seminibus angulatis e apice loculi pendulis funiculis capillaribus, testa atra crassa nitida.—4. Cunn. 
Prodr. A. sericea, Banks et Sol. MSS. et Ic. Hamelinia veratroides, A. Rich. Flora, p. 158. t. 94? 
Has. Northern Island and northern parts of the Middle Island, common, Banks and Solander, etc. 
(This or A. Cunningham? is cultivated in England.) 
Similar in foliage and inflorescence to 4. Cunninghamii, but very different in the structure of the ovary, fruit, 
and form of the seeds.— Whole plant 2-3 feet high. Leaves 2 feet long, generally narrow, 4-3 inch, silky or nearly 
glabrous. Panicle densely covered with white, long, silvery, silky hairs: male with alternate long slender branches, 
and very small flowers + inch broad ; perianth glabrous, of spreading narrow acuminate segments ; filaments subulate ; 
anthers small, broad. Female panicle of shorter, stouter, more crowded branches, 3—4 inches long, with broader 
bracteal leaves, and more silky, broader perianths, which do not embrace the fruit. Ovary conical, with three cells and 
axile placente. Berry ovoid, with a sessile stigma 4 inch long, yellowish. Seeds three to six in each cell, sharply 
angled, pendulous by long slender cords from the top of the cell; testa very thick, hard, black and shining. —I am 
doubtful whether M. Richard’s figure of Hamelinia veratroides refers to this or the previous species; the fruit figured 
is immature. Mr. Colenso sends male specimens of what appears a very narrow-leaved glabrous variety of this, from 
the summit of the Ruahine range: like all the other species, this varies extremely in the breadth and silkiness of the 
leaves, size of the panicles, length of their branches, and breadth and silkiness of the perianths. 
I consider the above descriptions of all the species of Æstelia susceptible of revision, and strongly recommend 
the genus to the New Zealand student’s attention, who should be guided in his investigation of their characters by 
the fruit and seeds, and not be led astray by supposed specific differences arising from the specimens growing on 
rocks or the ground, instead of on trees. 
Oss. I have an imperfect specimen of another New Zealand Liliaceous plant, characterized as follows :— 
Pusilla, caule gracili, foliis paucis basi vaginantibus anguste linearibus, flore solitario, pedicello brevi, capsula 
semi-matura elliptica obtusa. 
Haz. Middle Island. Canterbury plains, Lyall. 
I have but a scrap of this plant, with wiry flexuous stem, 2 inches long, having two filiform leaves of the same 
length, sheathing at the base, and a solitary half-ripe elliptical capsule, ¢ inch long, with the remains of a perianth 
at its base, and a straight simple style. 
NAT. Og». XCI. PALMA, Juss. 
Gen. I. ARECA, Z. 
Flores monoici, sessiles in eadem spadice, spatha duplici cincti; masculi superiores plerumque foemineis 
2 stipati. d Perianthium 6-partitum, 2-seriale ; stamina 8-12. 2 Perianthii foliola 6, imbricata, con- 
voluta. Ovarium l- v. 8-loculare. Stigmata 3, sessilia. Drupa l-sperma, fibrosa; albumen corneum, in 
sp. Nov. Zel. non ruminatum. -Embryo basilaris. 
The New Zealand Palm isa plant of great interest, as being the most southern representative of the fine 
Natural Order to which it belongs, occurring as far as latitude 38° 99' south, whereas 35° is the limit of Palms 
in Australia, latitude 30° in Africa, and latitude 36° in South America. The genus 4reca (which produces the 
Betel-nut) is found in Asia and its islands; but the group to which 4. sapida belongs, and which has a one-celled 
ovary, is supposed to be confined to New Zealand, Norfolk Island, and the Malay Archipelago. Mr. Brown distin- 
guished the Australian allied Palm under the name Seaforthia; it resembles the New Zealand species, but differs 
from it in having numerous stamens and ruminated albumen.— 4. sapida is a small Palm; trunk 6-10 feet high, 6-8 
inches in diameter. Leaves pinnate, 4—6 feet long; pinnules very narrow, linear-lanceolate, margins replicate ; nerves, 
costa, and especially the petiole, covered with lepidote scales. Spadia glabrous, much branched, densely flowered, 
18-24 inches long, enclosed in two boat-shaped spathes; young inflorescence eaten. Flowers very numerous, males 
3T 
