CoLENSo. — On new Plants. 361 



short secondary peduncle at its base, springing axillary from a leaf, and 

 tricliotomously bearing three flowers nearly sessile or on very short pedicels, 

 bi-bracteate, bracts long linear ; pedicels on main rhachis short, under 1 hne 

 long, each having a pair of minute, scarious, punctate, and pilose brac- 

 teoles at the base. 



Hah. : Forests, head of the ManawatuEiver, climbing lofty trees ; 1874-9. 



This species is pretty closely allied to M. colemoi, Hook., but differing 

 from that species in its pecuhar strictly drooping growth, in its decussate 

 and densely pilose broader and coloured leaves, in its peculiar calyx lobes, 

 and terminal panicles of ivhite flowers. It is a beautiful plant in its native 

 wilds, and will, no doubt, at some future day, become a favourite garden 

 one, on account of its elegant pendulous habit. Its flowers are rather 

 rarely produced, and are generally, including the calyces, gnawed by insects. 

 I had to seek often, and to wait some years ere I could get perfect specimens. 

 I consider it by far the most graceful of all our known New Zealand species 

 of Metrosideros. 



MeTROSIDEBOS SUBSmiLIS. 



A bushy diffuse climbing plant, with pale deciduous bark. 



Leaves opposite, somewhat distichous, petiolate, 7-9 lines long, 4-6 lines 

 broad, broadly ovate and acute, sometimes broadly elliptic and mucronate, 

 sub-coriaceous, minutely punctate beneath, 3 (sub 5) nerved, midrib and 

 lateral nerves prominent, margin entire, slightly revolute and finely ciliated, 

 the lowest pair on a branchlet always the smallest, and often orbicular ; 

 young leaves very finely pilose on upper surface and on midrib beneath ; 

 petioles and branchlets densely and finely pilose. Flowers horizontal, erect, 

 whitish, small, under 6 lines long, generally 5-7-9 together, decussate, in 

 short racemes or thyrsoid-like panicles, always lateral, and springing 

 directly from old wood, — sometimes, however, a small corymb of three, and 

 more rarely a sohtary one appears ; calyx broadly campanulate, longer and 

 broader than ovary, nerved, minutely pilose, with five (sometimes six) 

 deltoid teeth, obtuse, persistent, minutely and regularly crenelled or sub- 

 beaded on inner border of the rim ; petals small, fugacious, under one Hne 

 in diameter, orbicular, scarcely clawed, obscurely 3-5-veined, punctate, 

 erose, or minutely jagged at top, limb faintly pinkish, and some with a 

 slight tinge of red — particularly on the outside, — claw dark coloured ; 

 anthers small, orbicular ; filaments slender, simple, pure white, two lines long, 

 flexuose, spreading, not numerous (15-20), deciduous; style stout, subulate, 

 erect, much longer than stamens, 4-5 Unes long dming flowering, afterwards 

 6 lines long or more, persistent ; stigvia dilated ; ovary small, under one line 

 diameter, globose, wholly adherent with base of calyx-tube, sphtting loculi- 

 cidally into three valves, the terminal or central ovary sometimes bearing a 



41 



