330 PLANTS OP NEW ZEALAND 



Styphelia acerosa (The Prickly Styphelia). 



A shrub or small tree, with blackish branches. Leaves about J in.-$ in. long, 

 acerose, linear. Margins often recurved, with 3-7 parallel veins on the under side. 

 Drupe white or red, f in.- in. in diameter. Abundant throughout the islands, 

 variable. Fl. Oct. -Nov. Maori name Mingi-mingi. (CyatJiodes acerosa of 

 Cheeseman.) 



S. robusta is a very distinct and handsome species from the Chathams. 

 S. empetrifolia is a sub-alpine species. These shrubs have a slight resemblance 

 to young plants of the genus Podocarpus. 



Genus Dracophyllum. 



Shrubs or trees. Leaves long, rigid, grass-like, with sheathing bases, and 

 generally crowded to the ends of the branches, which are marked by the ring-scars 

 of the fallen leaves. Flowers in racemes or spikes, rarely solitary. Corolla 

 tubular or bell-shaped, generally white. Anthers 5, sessile at the mouth of the 

 column. Disk of 5 erect scales. (Name signifying dragon-leaved, in allusion to 

 the resemblance of the leaves to those of the Dragon-tree of Teneriffe, v. p. 92). 



A strange genus of Australasian and New Caledonian Epacrids, known to 

 Colonists as Grass-trees. 18 sp. 



Dracophyllum latifolium (The Broad-leaved Grass-tree). 



A shrub or tree, from 10 ft. -25 ft. high, branches given off in whorls. 

 Leaves 10in.-2ft. long, and from 1 in. -2 in. broad at the base, tapering into 

 drooping points, and forming a head resembling that of the cabbage-tree. From 

 the centre of this head rises a large cylindrical panicle of closely packed red 

 flowers, from 6 in. -18 in. long. The flowers themselves are minute, about in. 

 long. Both islands : common in Auckland, but rarer towards the South ; in the 

 South Island, only in Nelson and Westland. Fl. Jan. -Feb. Maori name 

 Nei-nei. 



This singular plant is replaced in the mountainous districts of the South 

 Island, by the closely allied Dracophyllum Traversii. 



Dracophyllum longifolium (The Long-leaved Grass-tree). 



A shrub or tree, 3 ft. -30ft. high. Leaves 3 in. -10 in. long, with a large 

 sheath at the base, which is suddenly contracted into a narrow blade, in.-in. 

 broad. The flowers are white, in crowded racemes, 1 in. -2 in. long. Each flower 

 has a large brown bract at its base. North Island, rare, becoming more common 

 towards the South. In Campbell Island it forms the chief portion of the woody 

 vegetation. Fl. Oct. -Dec. 



Dracophyllum uniflorum (The One-flowered Grass-tree). 



A stout, erect shrub. Leaves \ in. -fin. long, ^ in. -Jin. broad, pungent. 

 Flowers solitary, \ in.-J in. long, almost hidden by the sheathing bracts. An 

 alpine species of the South Island. Fl. Dec. -Feb. 



