T3E ART ALBUM OF NEW ZEALAND FLORA. 



81 



1. MELICOPE TERNATA (Forsf.) The Ternate Melicope. 



Specific Character. — A siiiull glabrous tree, 12 -15 ft. 

 liigli ; brunehes, rather stout. Leaves, opposite, 3-foliolate ; 

 leatlets, 3-t in. long, ovate or linear-oblong, acute, quite entire, 

 longer than the petioles. Flowers, ^ in. diam., greenish-white, 

 in peduncled, triehotomous, axillary cymes ; bracts, deciduous. 



Petals, ovate, longer than the stamens ; margins, imbricate. 

 Ovary, cjuite glabrous; style, short. Carpels, 4, spreading, 

 coriaceous, strongly wrinkled ; seed, small, black, projecting 

 from the fissure, attached by a slender funicle. — Handboolc of 

 the New Zealand Flora, p. 40. 



Description, etc.— Eig. 2, Plate No. 17.— The " WHARANGI " ov " TATAKA." 

 — This small tree is indigenous to the Northern Island, and the Nelson District, in the 

 Middle Island. It is not found south of the latter locality, its place being sup])lied hy 

 M. sbuplex. The Wharangi seldom attains any great size, jiartaking more generally of 

 the character of a shrub than that of a tree. It has pale green, trifoliolate leaves, and 

 presents a somewhat pleasing appearance. It blossoms in September and October, but 

 its small greenish-white flowers are not very attractive. The arrangement of the fruit is 

 very peculiar, consisting of four carpels placed in a cruciform manner, each containing 

 a single black seed suspended by a thread, and projecting from the opening when nearing 

 the ripening stage. The Avood is light, and has a peculiar satiny lustre. It is used by 

 cabinetmakers in Auckland for inlaying purposes, and is much esteemed. 



2. MELICOPE SIMPLEX {A. Cuim.) The Simple Melicope. 



Specific Character, — A glabrous shrub, 6-8 ft. high; 

 branches, slender. Leaves, alternate, scattered or fascicled, 

 small, of 1 (rarely 3, of which the lateral are minute), 

 orbicular-obovate or ovate, obtuse, doubly crenate leiilet, ^-^ 

 in long, jointed on the toj5 of a flattened, almost winged petiole, 

 i-J in. long, which is broader towards the leaflet, and chan- 

 nelled above. Pedicels, several together ; axillary, slender. 



longer than the ))etioles, 1-4-flowered, bracteolate at the forks. 

 Flowers, very small, greenish-white. Petals, linear-oblong, 

 shorter in the male flowers than the stamens, valvate, or with 

 the edges a little overlapping. Ovary, oblong, hirsute ; style 

 in the female flowers, slender ; stigma, capitate. Fruit as in 

 M. teniaia, but much smaller. — Ilandhook of the New Zealand 

 Flora, p. 40. 



Description, etc. — This shrub is indigenous to both the Northern and Middle 

 Islands. It is most common in the Middle Island, and is abundant in Otago. It is in 

 every way more slender, and a very different looking plant from 31. ternata. The 

 flowers, which are very small and greenish-white, are sweet scented. They are not 

 produced in large masses, as in M. ternata, and are therefore not very consjiicuous. The 

 wood is of no economic value. 



