Melicytus.] IV. violarieae. 43 



3. M. lanceolatus, Hook. /., Fl. N.Z. i. 18, t. 8. A slender shrub, 

 5ft.— 12ft. high. Branches usually few, brittle. Leaves 3iii.— 6in. long, nar- 

 row linear-lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, membranous, 

 sharply serrate. Flowers iu 2— 4-flowered fascicles ; pedicels slender, decurved^ 

 with bracts above the middle. Calyx-lobes oblong. Petals erect, recurved at 

 the apex. Connective elongated into a flat subulate point. Style long; stigmas 

 3. Berry spherical, violet-coloured. Seeds about 10, angled, minutely tubercu- 

 late.— Handbk. 17. 



NOETH and SOUTH Islands ; STEWART Island : from Whangarei southwards. Chiefly in 

 lowland districts, but often local. Ascends to upwards of 2,000ft. Plentiful in Westland. Oct., 

 Nov. 



Easily distinguished by the narrow leaves, 3-fid style, and minutely tuberoulate seeds. The 

 leaves sometimes attain the extreme length of lOin. 



4. M. micranthus, Hook. /., Fl. N.Z. i. 18. A shrub or small tree, 

 6ft.— 15ft. high; trunk 4in.— 5in. in diameter. Branchlets numerous, crowded, 

 forming a compact head, tortuous or straight, often pubescent at the tips or 

 almost setose. Leaves scattered, small, coriaceous, oblong or orbicular-ovate, 

 sometimes contracted in the middle, sinuate, often with minute teeth, narrowed 

 into the short puberulous petiole, rarely lobed. Flowers minute, inconspicuous, 

 axillary. Peduncles solitary, pubescent, longer or shorter than the petioles, 

 braeteolate. Calyx-lobes usually 5, ciliated, shorter than the spreading orbicu- 

 lar petals. Anthers broad, rounded ; connective short, flat. Female : Anthers 

 abortive; style short, stout; stigma 4-lobed. Berry minute, red. Seeds 2 or 

 3, scarcely angled .^ — Handbk. 17. M. microphyllus , Col., N.Z.I, xix. (1886) 

 260 and xx. 189. Elaeodendron micranthus, Hook. f. in Lond. Journ. Bot. iii. 

 228, t. 8. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands : from Whangarei to Otago. In lowland forests. Nov., Deo. 



Easily distinguished by its small leaves, rigid habit, and minute 2-3- seeded berries. In general 

 appearance it repembles states of Melicope simplex, Mrysine divaricata, and Panax anomalum. 

 The female flowers have imperfect anthers. In the toughness of the branches and the form of the 

 leaves it approaches Hymenanthera. 



3. HYMENANTHERA, E. Br. 



Flowers regular, perfect or unisexual. Sepals 5, coherent at the base. 

 Petals 5, short, rounded. Anthers sessile, connate into a tube; connective pro- 

 duced into a crested or fimbriate membrane with a scale at the back. Ovary 

 1-celled, with a short style and 2-fid stigma. Fruit a 2- rarely 3- or 1-seeded 

 berry. Placentas 2. Seeds with copious endosperm, angled on the inner face. 

 Shrubs. Leaves small, alternate, minutely stipulate. 



A small genus, extending to Tasmania, New South Wales, and Norfolk Island. 

 Branchlets numerous. Leaves smooth. Flowers fascicled. 

 Bark white. Leaves linear-obovate, often fascicled . . . . .. 1. H. crassifolia. 



Bark dark. Leaves linear-oblong . . . . . . . . . . 2. H. dentata, var. 



aiigustifolia. 

 Branchlets few. Leaves smooth. 



Bark green. Leaves obovate or oblong, solitary . . . . . . . . 3. E. ohovata. 



Bark red. Leaves oblong-obovate. Flowers solitary . . . . . . i. H. Traversii. 



