220 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



Key to the Genera, 



Sepals and petals, 5. Stamens, 10. Phebalium, p. 220. 



Sepals and petals, 4. Stamens, 8. Melicope, p. 220. 



Genus Phebalium. 



Shrubs, with alternate, pellucid-dotted, simple leaves, and corymbs of white 

 flowers. Calyx small. 28 species are found in Australia, but only one in New 

 Zealand. 



Phebalium nudum (The Naked Phebalium}. 



A slender, branching shrub, with reddish bark. Leaves, lin. - Ifin. long ; 

 flowers, J in.-J in. across; white, in terminal corymbs; endemic. North Island : 

 as far south as the Thames. Great Barrier Island. Fl. Nov.-Dec. Maori name 

 Mairehau. 



Genus Melicope. 



Flowers, regular. Sepals and petals, 4. Stamens, 8. Ovary of 4 carpels. 

 Shrubs or trees, with dotted leaves, simple or ternate. Flowers terminal or 

 axillary; small. About 15 species, two of which are endemic in New Zealand. 

 (Name from the Greek, in reference to the lobed glands round the ovary). 



Melicope ternata (The Ternate-leaved Melicope). 

 A small tree, with shining yellowish-green leaves, and axillary cymes of 

 greenish flowers. Leaves opposite ; 3-foliate ; leaflets, 2in.-4in. long. Flowers, 

 Jin. in diameter. Seed, black, shining. Common in the North Island ; local in 

 the South. Fl. Sept. -Oct. Maori name Wliarangi. The gum of this tree is 

 said to have been chewed by the natives. 



Melicope simplex (The Simple-leaved Melicope). 

 A small tree, 3ft. - 12ft. high. Leaves alternate, usually simple, rarely 

 3-foliolate, Jin. -fin. long. Leaf stem flattened, broad. Flowers, -in. across, 

 white or pink, fascicled on the branches. The appearance of this plant is 

 different in every respect from that of M. ternata. Both islands abundant. 



This is one of the few New Zealand plants that have been 

 shown to have cleistogamic flowers (v. Viola Cunning hamii.) 



Mr. G. M. Thomson found specimens of Melicope simplex 

 on Pigeon Island in Lake Wanaka, with closed flowers that 

 were seeding freely." On examining them he found that the 

 flowers were much reduced, and adapted for self-pollination. 

 The sepals were normal, and the petals nearly so, but of the 

 eight stamens found in the well-developed flower, four were 



*Trans. Vol. XXIV. p. 416. 



