164 XXIX. MTETACEAE. [Myrfus. 



very short and broad, obtuse, persistent. Petals short, orbicular, white. Ovary 

 adnate with the base of the calyx-tube, included until after flowering. Capsule 

 globose, ^in. long, half-superior, the protruded portion loculicidally 3-valved. — 

 Hook, f., Fl. N.Z. i. 69 ; Handbk. 73. M. perforata, A. Rich., Fl. N.Z. 334. 

 M. buoeifolia, A. Cunn., Preeurs. n. 555. M. vesiculata, Col. in Trans. N.Z.I. 

 xvi. (1884) 327. M. tenuifolia, Col. I.e. xxiv. (1891) 387. Leptospermum per- 

 foratum, Forst., Char. Gen. 36, u. 4. Melaleuca perforata, G. Forst., Prod. n. 

 213. 



NORTH Island; Three Kinga Islands and North Cape to Cook Strait. SOUTH Island: 

 Marlborough and Nelson. Banks Peninsula, /. B. Armstrong. Lord Auckland Group, Bolton, in 

 Handbk. (The two last habitats require confirmation. I suspect some mistake has occurred.) Aka. 

 Feb., Mar. 



In the young state the plant is often creeping, with slender glabrous stems and glabrous mem- 

 branous leaves, when it is M. tenuifolia, Col. In others the twigs and young leaves are almost 

 hispid, both leaves and calyx-tubes covered with unusually large black glands, when it is M. vesicu- 

 lata, Col. ; but both forms are connected by intermediates 



8. MYRTUS, Linn. 

 Calyx-tube subglobose or turbinate ; lobes 4—5, imbricate, usually per- 

 sistent. Petals 4 or 5, spreading. Stamens many, in several series, exceeding 

 the petals. Ovary wholly immersed in the calyx-tube, imperfectly 2— 4-celled ; 

 ovules several in each cell. Fruit a globose or ovoid berry, crowned with tlie 

 calyx-limb. Seeds few or many, rounded or reniform, angular ; testa bony ; 

 embryo terete, curved or annular. Shrubs or small trees, with opposite leaves 

 dotted with pellucid glands. Flowers axillary, solitary, rarely cymose. Pe- 

 duncles slender. 



Species, about 115 ; most abundant in South America, one extending to Cape Horn, others to 

 Mexico and the West India Islands. M. communis is common in South Europe and West Asia. 

 About a dozen are found in Australia and four in New Zealand, all endemic. 



Leaves lin.-2in. long, tumid between the veins. Calyx-lobes acute . . . . 1. M. bullata. 



Leaves Jin.-lin. long, flat or slightly tumid. Calyx-lobes rounded . . . . 2. M. Balphii. 



Leaves obcordate, Jin.-Jin. long. Calyx 4-lobed . . . . . . . . 3. M. obcordata. 



Leaves obovate or oblong-ovate, Jin.-iin. long. Calyx 5-lobed . . . . i. M. pedunculata. 



1. M. bullata, Soland. ex A. Cunn., P)-ecurs. n. 565. A shrub or rarelv 

 a small tree, 29ft.-30ft. high. Branchlets, young leaves, and petioles tomentose. 

 Leaves shortly petioled, reddish-brown, |in.-2in. long, broadly ovate or orbicu- 

 lar-ovate, obtuse or acute, subcoriaceous, tumid between the veins. Flowers 

 axillary, solitary. Peduncles longer or shorter than the leaves. Calyx-tube with 

 2 minute bracteoles at the base; lobes 4, acute. Petals orbicular, white. 

 Berry ovoid, red, 2-celled, crowned with the calyx-limb. Seeds 2-seriate in 

 each cell, reniform ; testa bony. — Hook., Ic. PI. t. 557 ; Hook, f ., Fl. N.Z. i. 

 70; Handbk. 74; T. Kirk, Forest Fl. N.Z. t. 131. 



NORTH Island: North Cape to Cook Strait, frequent. SOUTH Island: Marlborough 

 and Nelson, rare. Sea-level to 1,800ft. Eamarama. Dec, Jan. 



The petals and sepals are dotted with minute warts. 



