44 IV. VIOLAEIEAE, [Hymenanthera. 



Branches few. Leaves reticulate mi both surfaces. 

 Leaves ovate-lanoeolafce, sinuate. Flowers perfect . . . . . . 5. H. latifolia. 



Leaves lanceolate, sharply toothed. Flowers dioecious . . . . . . &. H. Chathamica. 



1. H. crassifolia, Hook.f., Fl. N.Z. i. 17, t. 8. A low rigid spreading 

 shrub, with short stout tortuous branches. Bark white, furrowed. Branchlets 

 pubescent. Leaves alternate or fascicled, very coriaceous, linear-spathulate or 

 linear-obovate, Jin.— iin. long, entire or sinuate, toothed or lobed, rounded or 

 retuse ; petioles very short. Flowers small, axillary, solitary or in small fas- 

 cicles. Peduncles shorter than the flowers, curved, with 2 ovate bracts below 

 the middle. Sepals much shorter than the petals, minutely erose. Petals 

 linear-oblong, recurved at the apex. Anthers forming a tube round the ovary; 

 connective with a dorsal scale, fimbriate. Ovary l-celled; placentas 3. Berry 

 purple and white, 2-seeded. Seeds 2, convex on the outer face. — Handbk. 18. 

 Scaevola ? Novae-Zelandiae, A. Cunn., Precurs. n. 429. 



NORTH Island : maritime rocks opposite the Cavallos Islands, E. Cunningham. Northern 

 shore of Cook Strait, from Cape Terawhiti to Cape Palliser, &c., Port Nicholson, T. K. SOUTH 

 Island : Nelson : coast between the Boulder Bank and Croixelles Harbour, T. K. Marlborough : 

 Pelorus Sound, &c., /. JRutlatid! Canterbury: coast of Banks Peninsula, J. B. Armstrong ! Otago, 

 Petrie. STEWART Island, T. K. Oct., Nov. 



Erect specimens with broader leaves are sometimes developed in sheltered situations. 



2. H. dentata, R. Br., var. angustifolia, Benth., FL Austr, i. 104. A 

 much-branched leafless shrub, 2ft.— 8ft. high. Branchlets terete, intricate, about 

 as thick as whipcord, occasionally spinescent, closely dotted with minute lenticels. 

 Leaves on young plants shortly petioled, narrow-linear-oblong, entire, lobed or 

 pinnatifld, often fascicled, cuneate at the base, membranous or subcoriaceous, 

 entire or sinuate or' shortly lobed, rounded at the apex, iin.- fin. long. Flowers 

 perfect or dioecious, almost sessile, solitary or germinate. Male flowers not 

 seen. Female almost sessile; petals narrow; anthers abortive. Style short; 

 stigmas 2, spreading. Berry 2-speded. Seeds oblong, flat on the inner face, 

 convex on the outer, with a small discoid strophiole. — H. angustifolia, R. Br. 

 in DC. Prod. i. 315 ; Hook., Comp. to Bot. Mag. i. 274; Hook, f., Fl. Tasm. 

 i. 27. H. Banksii, P. Muell., PI. Vict. i. 69. 



NORTH Island: Wellington: Turangarere, ^. HamiWora.' Upper Rangitikei, PetWc' SOUTH 

 Island : Nelson : Wairoa Valley, Bryant ! Canterbury : Alps, J. B, Armstrong ! Otago : Paradise, 

 Mount Earnslaw, T. K. Nov. 



Easily distinguished by the lenticillate bark, slenJer leafless twigs, which are flexuous when 

 grown in sheltered places, and the dioecious flowers. The Tasmanian plant is said to produce 

 hermaphrodite flowers. At present I have only had the opportunity of examining the female 

 flowers of the New Zealand plant. 



Var. alplna. Depressed, 1ft. -2ft. high. Branches very short, rigid, stout, usually terminating 

 in a stout spine. Bark whitish, lenticellate. Leaves less than Jin. long, usually fascicled very 

 coriaceous, oblong-obovate ; petioles very short. Flowers on very short straight peduncles. Sepals 

 erosulate-oiliate. Petals broad, recurved. Anthers very broad, connective much produced, nearly 

 entire ; dorsal scale broadly cuneate. Style slender ; stigmas 2, spreading. Fruit not seen. SOUTH 

 Island : Alps of Canterbury and Otago. 2,000ft. to 4,000ft. A reruaikable plant, forming a mass of 

 very short stout spinous branches. Possibly a distinct species. Dec, Jan. 



3. H. obovata, T. Kirk ill Trans. N.Z.I, xxvii. (1894) 350. An erect 

 glabrons shrub, 4ft,-8ft, high. Bi'anches few, slender, ascending. Bark pale. 



