Panax.] xxxv. aeaxiaceae. 217 



1. P. lineare, Hook, f., Fl. N.Z. \. 93. A small sparingly -branched 

 dioecious shrub, 5ft.— 8ft. high. Branchlets short, stout, often crowded. Leaves 

 dimorphic ; in the young state linear, 6in.— 9in. long, jin.— jin. wide, narrowed 

 into a short stout petiole, coriaceous, rigid, acute, midrib stout, margins dis- 

 tantly and obscurely serrate ; mature leaves crowded at the tips of the branch- 

 lets, liin.— Siiii. long, linear -lanceolate, excessively coriaceous, acute or obtuse, 

 obscurely serrate ; petiole iin. long, stout, mixed with 3-fid or simple coriaceous 

 subulate scales. Stipules minute. Umbels small, terminal. Peduncles very 

 short or 0. Male : compound ; rays bracteolate, 4-8, unequal ; pedicels short ; 

 petals 5 ; stamens 5. Female : umbels compound ; rays 1—4-flo wared ; pedicels 

 short ; petals ; ovary 3- rarely 5-celled ; styles 3— 5-celled, connate at the 

 base ; tips recurved. Fruit urceolate, 3- or 5-celled and seeded. — Handbk. 101 ; 

 T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z.I, ix. (1876) 492. 



SOUTH Island ; Southern Alps, not common ; from Nelson to Southland. 2,800ft. to 4,000ft. 

 Jan., Feb. 



The linear erect or spreading leaves pass very gradually into those of the mature state. 



2. P. simplex, G. Forst., Prod. n. 399. A shrub or small tree, 5ft.- 

 20ft. high. Leaves polymorphic : in the young state (1), all ovate or broadly 

 ovate, serrate on long slender petioles; (2), 5-foliolate on slender peduncles; 

 leaflets petiolulate, linear, lobed or pinnatipartite : both these are replaced by 

 3-foliolate leaves with lanceolate sessile leaflets, and these again by unifoliolate 

 oblong or obovate-lanceolate leaves 2in.— Sin. long, subacute acute or acuminate, 

 serrate or dentate or almost entire, rarely opposite. !^lowers in compound 

 axillary or terminal umbels shorter than the leaves ; the terminal umbellule 

 female, the lateral male. Male flowers : petals 5 ; stamens 5. Female : petals 

 and stamens ; ovary 3-celled ; styles 2, free, recurved. Fruit compressed, 

 2-seeded.— DC, Prod. iv. 253 ; a'. Rich., Fl. N.Z. 280, t. 31 ; A. Cunn., 

 Precurs. n. 509; Hook, f., Fl. Antarc. i. 18, t. 12; Fl. N.Z. i. 93; Handbk. 

 100; T. Kirk, Forest Fl. N.Z. t. 106, 107. 



Var. qaercifolium. Mature leaves 1-foliolate, 8in.-5in. long, coriaceous, narrow-lanceolate, 

 deeply pinnatifid or lobulate, acute. Female umbels simple, few-flowered. — T. Kirk, Forest Fl. N.Z. 

 t. 106, f. 2. 



Var. parvum. Leaves when mature 1-foliolate, acute or subacute, crenate or sharply serrate, 

 Jin.-lin. long. Umbels few-flowered. Approaches P. anomalum in general appearance, but the 

 leaves are more acute. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands; from Tairua, Thames Goldfield, southwards to STEWART 

 Island and the AUCKLAND Islands. Sea-level to 4,000ft. Var. quercifolium, Waimakariri, Enys ! 

 Var. parvum, Stewart Island, T. K. Haumakoroa. Eaimiangaroa. Nov. to Jan. 



3. P. Edgerleyi, Hook. /., Fl. N.Z. i. 94. A dioecious tree, 20ft.-40ft. 

 high. Leaves dimorphic : in young plants on long slender petioles, 3— 5-folio- 

 late ; leaflets oblong-lanceolate or lanceolate, acute, pinnatipartite or pinnatifid 

 or lobed, purple beneath : on mature plants 1-foliolate, 3in.— 9in. long, obovate 

 or oblong-lanceolate, acute acuminate or rarely obtuse, membranous, shining ; 

 petioles slender, lin.— 4in. long, jointed to the blade. Umbels compound, 

 axillary or developed below the leaves, lin.— 2in. long, racemose or in slender 



26 



