liZU PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



Ke;i to tlie Genera. 

 Sepals anil |)utals, 5. Stamens, 10. Phebaliiuii. p. •2-l(). 



Sepals and itetals. 4. Stanieus, 8. Melicojie, |). ^-20. 



Genus Pliehaliiini. 



Shrubs, with altL'i'nato, pellucid-dotted, simple leaves, and cor\'inl)s of white 

 tl')\vers. Calyx small. l^S species are found in Australia, liut only one in Ne\\' 

 Zealand. 



Phebalium nudum (TJic Naked PhebaliiiDi). 



A slender, branching shrub, with reddish bark. Leaycs, lin. -IJin. long ; 

 flowers, 3; in. -J in. across; white, in ternrinal corymbs; endemic. North Island : 

 as far south as the Thames. Great Barrier Island. Fl. Nov. -Dec. Maori name 

 Mdiieliau. 



Gen US Melicape. 



Flowers, regular. Sepals and petals, 4. Stamens, 8. Ovary of 4 carpels. 

 Shrubs or trees, with dotted leaves, simple or ternate. Flowers terminal or 

 axillary ; small. About 1-5 species, two of which are endemic in New Zealand. 

 (Name from the Greek, in reference to the lobed glands round the ovary). 



Melicope ternata {The Ternate-leaved Melicopa). 



A small tree, with shining yellowish-green leaves, and axillary cymes of 

 greenish flowers. Leaves opposite ; .3-foliate ; leaflets, 2in. -4m. long. Flowers, 

 Jin, in diameter. Seed, black, shining. Common in the North Island ; local iu 

 the South. Fl. Sept. -Oct. Maori name Wharangi. The gum of this tree is 

 said to have been chewed by the natives. 



Melicope simplex (T/tc Simple-leaved Melicope). 



A small tree, :-ift. - li2ft. high. Leaves alternate, usually simple, rarely 

 .3-foliolate, T^-in.-Jin. long. Leaf stem flattened, broad. Flowers, J-iu. across, 

 white or pink, fascicled on the branches. The appearance of this plant is 

 different in every respect from that of 11. tcrnata. 



This is one of the few New Zealand plants tliat have been 

 sliown to have cleistogamic fiowers (v. Viola Cunninghamii.) 



Mr. G. M. Tliomson found specimens of Melicope simple.i: 

 on Pigeon Island in Lake Wanaka, witli closed flowers that 

 were seeding freely." On examining them he found that the 

 flowers were much reduced, and adapted for self-pollinati(jn. 

 The sepals were normal, and the petals nearly so, l)ut of the 

 eight stamens found in the well-developed flower, four were 



'Trans. Vol. XXIV. li. 416. 



