60 



THE ABT ALBUM OF NEW ZEALAND FLORA. 



The white, soft, but close-grained wood is used by carvers and turners, and by musical 

 instrument makers, for sounding boards. The tough inner bark, called Sasf, is the 

 material of wliich the Russian mats vised by gardeners and upholsterers are made ; and 

 the Uussiau peasants make shoes, ropes, nets, and other articles of it. The sap yields 

 sugar, and the flowers an abundance of honey, of which the bees are exceedingly fond. 

 The order in New Zealand is represented by three genera, viz. : — (1.) Entelea, a small 

 l>ranching tree, leaves alternate; (2.) Aristotelia, shrul)s or trees, leaves opposite; 

 (3.) Elceocarpus, trees generally hard-wooded, leaves alternate. 



GENUS I. 

 ENTELEA {Browu.) The Entelea. 



Geneeic Chahacter. — A small, branching, light-wooded 

 tree, covered with stellate down, having large, alternate, 

 5-7-nerved, cordate, toothed, stipulate leaves, and umbellate 

 cymes of white flowers. Sepals, 4 or 5, free. Petals, 4 or 5, 

 undulate. Stamens very numerous, free, on a low torus, with 



filiform filaments, and versatile anthers. Ovary 4-6-oelled ; 

 style simple, stigmatiferous at tlie toothed apex; cells, many- 

 ovuled. Capsule globose, echinate, with long rigid bristles, 

 4^6-valved, locidicidal. — Handbook of Sew Zealand Flora, 

 p. 32. 



Description, etc. — This genus is peculiar to New Zealand, and is represented by a 

 single species, Entelea arborescei/s, which is most nearly allied to Spannannia, a genus 

 of Abysinnian and South American shrubs or trees, with heart-shaped, toothed, or lolied 

 leaves, and terminal cymes of white flowers. The genus Sparmannia derives its name 

 from Dr. A. Sparmann, a Swedish botanist, Avho accompanied Ca})taiu Cook in his second 

 voyage round the world, and introduced into cultivation the well-known ♦S'. africanus, 

 which is commonly met with in green-houses in Britain. 



1. ENTELEA AEBORESCENS (Broicn.) The Arborescent Entelea. 



Specific Character. — Leaves 4-8 in. long, on long 

 petioles, oblique, often lobed irregularly and acutely, doubly 

 or trebly crenate, or serrate ; stipules persistent. Flowers 

 white, abundant, in erect cymes, bracteate at the axils, J-1 in. 



diam., drooping. Sepals aecuminate; ovary hispid. Capsule 

 the size of a hazel nut ; spines nearly an inch long. Seeds in 

 two rows. Albumen oily. — Handbook of Neto Zealand Flora, 

 p.Z2. 



Description, etc., Plate No. 13.— The "WHAU," or " HAUAMA."— This very 

 beautiful small tree is peculiar to the Northern Island of New Zealand, but it is not 

 common. It is chiefly met with on the outskirts of lowland forests, and fringing 

 deserted clearings. Its attractive, large, bright-green foliage, and handsome white 

 flowers \\\t\\ yelloAv eye, arrest the attention of the most unappreciative traveller, and 

 marks the forest scenery with a beauty that is rare and exquisite. The tree is small, 

 scarcely ever exceeding ten or twelve feet in height, and is admirably suited to become 

 a magnificent addition to our gardens and shrubberies. The Avoody branches are used 

 by the Maoris as floats for their fishing nets, and in the construction of small rafts 

 employed by them in laying out their crayfish pots. Owing to the extreme lightness 



