50 The Vegetation of the Sea-coast. 
d. Coprosma acerosa A. Cunn. (Rubrzae.). 
C. acerosa has the divaricating shrub-form, but more depressed than is 
usual with that class, making flattened orange-coloured or reddish open cushions 
or thick mats of interlacing twigs. The main stem is flexible, rope-like, about | 
in the sand or quite hidden by the interlacing twigs. These latter, ; 
the cushion, are wiry, flexuous and flexible; the branching is at right angles 
or thereabouts and frequentiy only from the flanks of the stem. The leaves 
in opposite pairs on much reduced branchlets are pressed closely to the stem, 
the naked spaces equalling those. covered by the leaves. These latter are 
linear, 7 mm long, thick, coriaceous, pale or yellowish green. The roots are 
 extremely long, but short adventitious ones are frequent on the peripheral 
shoots. The flowers are dioecious. The‘drupe is er fleshy, 7 mm long 
more or less, translucent and white stained with pale 
‚species is endemic; it occurs throughout the En except the Ker- 
madec and Subantarctic botanical provinces. and is strictly coastal. 
. The dune-species of Cassinia (Compos.). 
The three ERS (C. leptophylla, C. retorta and =E Julvida), are 
identical in form and differ only in colour of tomentum and slight distinctions . 
' ofleaf-form and inflorescence. They are erect bushy ericoid shrubs from ı m 
or less, to 2m or even more, high. The main stems arc few, naked, no 
much b ıched below, but above branching abundantly into slender leafy twigs 
"which finally give off, at a narrow angle, flexible, straight branchlets covered 
with tomentum, either white (C. reterlal: greyish 128 leptophylla) or yellow 
ieh: ae Ang ‚shoots form e le: 
vate (C. linea 
