PlMjiaiUhns.] X. MALVACEAE. 71 



SOUTH Island : Upper Waimakariri, J. D. Enys ! 2,800£t. Dunedin, Petrie ! Apparently 

 local. 



The material at my disposal is very limited, and ia poor condition ; but there can be no doubt 

 as to the speoifio validity of the plant. 



3. P. betulinus, A. Cum., Precurs. n. 605. A shrub or tree, 30ft.- 

 60ft. high, with tough inner bark, the young state with interlaced tortuous 

 branches. Trunk 1ft.— 3ft. in diameter. Leaves and stipules pubescent in 

 young plants, alternate, membranous, lin.— 3in. long, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, entire or variously lobed or coarsely serrate, or crenate or doubly 

 serrate ; petioles slender. Mowers very numex'ous in slender terminal or 

 axillary panicles, unisexual or polygamous. Calyx 5-toothed. Petals small, 

 rounded at the tips, white, adnate with the staminal tube. Filaments short. 

 Fruit a downy ovoid capsule, 1-celled, 1-seeded. Pericarp thin, splitting along 

 one side. — Hook, f., Fl. N.Z. i. 29, and Handbk. 30. P. urticinus, A. Cunn., 

 Precurs. u. 606. P regium, Poit. in Ann. Sc. Nat. (ser. 2) viii. 183, t. 3. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands ; STEWART Island ; CHATHAM Islands: from Mongonui 

 southwards. Ascends to 1,500ft. Ribbon-wood. Hohere on Chatham Islands ; manatu in East 

 Cape district. 



[P. linariifolia, Buoh. in Trans. N.Z.I, xvi. (1883) 394, t. 34, f. 1, appears to be an unde- 

 scribed Coprosma, but the material is not sufficient to allow of determination. As the ovary is 

 clearly inferior, the plant cannot be referred to Plagianthus.] 



2. HOHERIA, A. Cunn. 



Bracteoles 0. Calyx broadly cup-shaped, 5-toothed. Petals oblique, 



notched near the apex, obtuse. Stamens oo, forming 5 bundles at the apex of 



the column. Ovary 5-celled ; cells 1-seeded. Styles 5 or rarely 6, filiform; 



stigmas capitate. Fruit of 5 separable indehiscent carpels, whorled round a 



slender axis, crested with an oblique dorsal wing. Seeds pendulous. Shrubs 



or trees with alternate petioled serrate leaves and axillary flo^*'ers on jointed 



peduncles. 



An endemic genus, consisting perhaps of a single species, varying to a remarkable extent in 

 the form and toothing of the leaves. 



Etym. A modification of the Maori name. 



1. H. populnea, A. Cunn., Precurs. n. 600. A shrub or tree, 10ft.- 

 30ft. high, with tough bark. Branchlets slender, hoary when young. Leaves 

 varying greatly, especially in the young state, ovate-oblong, lanceolate or 

 linear, usually entire, sharply or spinulose- toothed or rarely obtusely-serrate; 

 petioles slender. Flowers white, produced in great profusion in axillary 

 fascicles on jointed 1-flowered peduncles. Peduncles pubescent. — Hook, f., Fl. 

 N.Z. i. 30; Handbk. 31. 



Subsp. vulgaris. Leaves coriaceous, ovate, acute or acuminate, with large aoutR teeth ; 

 petioles lin.-2in. long; blade 3in.-6in. Leaves of the young state differing in size only. Fascicles 

 S-9-flowered. Peduncles shorter than the petioles, pubescent. Flowers Jin.-fin. in diameter. — 

 Hook. f. in Hook. Ic. t. 565, 566 ; T. Kirk, Forest Fl. N.Z. c. 53. 



Var. Sinclairii. Leaves broadly ovate, acute and more coriaceous; petiole shorter ; margins 

 with close short obtuse serraturea. Fascicles 2-3flowered. Peduncles very short. Fruits not seen. 

 — S. Sinclairii, Hook, f., Handbk. 31. 



NORTH Island : Mongonui to Lower Waikato. Houhere. Lace-bark. March, April. 



Subsp. lanceolata. Leaves in young state ovate, rounded-ovate, or elliptic-ovate, tootlied, 

 lobed, or deeply out ; mature state coriaceous, ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, acute or acuminate, 

 sharply toothed. Petioles shorter.— T. Kirk, Forest Fl. N.Z. t. 54, f. 2; t. 55, f. a. 



