Coprosma.] xxxviii. RUBIACEAE. 235 



calyx deeply 4— 5-lobed ; corolla campanulate, deeply 4— 5-cleft, lobes spreading 

 or revolute ; stamens 4. Female : usually solitary^ smaller and narrower than 

 the male ; calyx deeply 4-toothed, teeth acute ; corolla tubular, deeply 4-cle£t, 

 lobes narrow, acute, revolute. Drupe ovoid, iin. long, slightly narrowed at 

 both ends, black. — Hook, f., Fl. N.Z. i. 106; Handbk. 114; Cheesem. in 

 Trans. N.Z.I, xix. 237. Pelaphioides rotundifoUa, Banks and Sol. MS. 



NORTH Island : Auckland : not infrequent in lowland forests from the North Gape to the 

 Upper Waikato. .-Vug., Sept. 



Allied to G. arborea, but distinguished by its smaller size, straggling habit, pendulous male 

 flowers, and solitary black fruit. 



13. C. rotundifolia, A. Cunn., Precurs. n. 473. A shrub, 4ft.-12ft. 

 high or more, with few slender spreading branches, often divaricating at right 

 angles. Young shoots pubescent or villous near the tips. Bark pale- or ashy- 

 brown. Leaves in distant pairs, iin.— Iin. long, orbicular or broadly oblong or 

 ovate- oblong, abruptly acute or rarely obtuse, membranous, pubescent on both 

 surfaces, margins ciliate, suddenly contracted into a slender villous petiole 

 usually shorter than the blade. Stipules small, deciduous. Flowers axillary, 

 sessile, fascicled or solitary. ]\Iale : calyx ; corolla deeply 4— 5-cleft, lobes 

 spreading. Female : calyx-limb minutely 4— 5-toothed ; corolla tubular, narrow, 

 shortly 3— 4-lobed. Drujje subglobose, usually didymous, broader than long, 

 liu. broad, red. — Hook, f.. El. N.Z. i. 108; Handbk. 114; Raoul, Choix46; 

 Cheesem., Trans. N.Z.I, xix. 237 C. rufescens, Col., Trans. N.Z.I, xviii. 261. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands : common in dark forests from Mangonui and Hokianga to 

 Southland. Ascends fio 2,000ft. Sept., Oct. 



Specimens with small leaves are sometimes mistaken for C. areolata; but the spreading 

 habit and broader drupes enable it to be recognised without difficulty. The leaves are often 

 blotched, and more or less deciduous. 



14. C. areolata, Cheesem. in Tram. N.Z.I, xviii. (1885) 315. An erect 

 shrub or small tree, 6ft.— 15ft. high. Brauches rather slender, strict, divari- 

 cating in young plants, fastigiate when old. Young shoots pubescent or villous. 

 Leaves Jin.— |in. long, membranous and thin, often hairy beneath, orbicular- 

 spathulate ovate-spathulate or elliptic-spathulate, acute or apiculate, abruptly 

 narrowed into short pubescent or hairy petioles ; veins forming large areoles. 

 Stipules short, broad, acute. Flowers axillary, solitary or in 2— 4-flowered 

 fascicles. Males: iin. long, involucellate ; calyx 0; corolla deeply 4— 5-lobed, 

 lobes spreading. Female, solitary or geminate, -yo^^- long; calyx obscurely 

 4-toothed ; corolla narrow, funnel-shaped, shortly 4-lobed, lobes scarcely 

 spreading. Drupe spherical, jJ^in.— ^in. in diameter, black, shining when 

 mature. — C. multijiora, Co\. in Trans. N.Z.I, xxi. 84. C. pallida, T. Kirk MS. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands : Ln lowland woods, from Mangonui to Southland. Sept., Oct. 

 Ascends to 1,250ft. 



This species resembles Melicytus micranthus in habit and general appearance.' Distinguished 

 from most other species of Covrosma by the fastigiate habit, small flat acute leaves, and spherical 

 drupes, which are never didymous. 



