** 3 O ' 
METROS 
"METROP'rASIS, f. [Greek.] A prolapfion of the 
Womb. 
METROSIDE'ROS, f. [from fupgee, the pith or heart, 
SCnd iron; the heart of thefe trees having the hard- 
nefs or colour of iron.] In botany, a genus of the clafs 
icofandria, order monogynia, natural order of myrti. Gene¬ 
ric characters—Calyx: perianthium one-leafed, five-cleft, 
half fuperior. Corolla : petals five, concave, nearly feffile, 
deciduous. Stamina: very long, Handing out, free or fe- 
yarate ; antherae incumbent. Piflillum : germ turbinate, 
Jaftened to the bottom of the calyx ; ftyle filiform, ereCt; 
ftigma Ample, fmall, fcarcely dilated. Pericarpium: cap- 
fule three-celled (fometimes four-celled), three-valved 
(fometimes four-valved), partly covered with the belly 
of the calyx. Seeds: very numerous (when unripe), linear- 
chaffy ; when ripe very few, rounded or angular.— Effen- 
tial Character. Calyx five-cleft, half fuperior; petals hve ; 
ftamina very long, Handing out; ffigma Ample; capfule 
three-celled. , 
Sir Jofeph Banks and Dr. Solander Arff diftinguifhed 
this genus from Leptospermum and Melaleuca; fee 
thofe articles. To the latter it is moff allied in habit, 
but differs in having diftinCt and Ample ftamens. The 
length of thofe organs, but efpecially the Ample, not ca¬ 
pitate, Higma, diftinguiflies it from Leptofpermum ; and 
the habit is totally different. Molt of the fpecies are 
large handfome Hi rubs or trees, with long or broad, moHIy 
fmooth and entire, leaves, and Ane large white or crim- 
fon flowers, confpicuous for their long and copious Ha- 
mens. Thefe plants are difpofed in two Je&ions, accord¬ 
ing to the fltuation of their leaves. This arrangement is 
by Dr. Smith, in the 3d vol. of the Linn. Tranf. 
' 1. Leaves oppolite. 1. MetroAderos hifpida, or rough 
metrofideros: leaves oppofxte, heart-fhaped, and clafping 
their Hem at the bafe ; young branches, flower-flalks, and 
calyx, briHly. Gathered near Port Jackfon, New South 
Wales, by Dr. J. White. It was railed from feeds in 
England by Mefl'rs. Lee and Kennedy about the year 
3789 ; and is now not very unfrequent in the more cu¬ 
rious greenhoufes, flowering in July and AuguH. The 
Hem is ufually four or flve feet high, probably much more 
in New Holland, rigid, branched, round, and leafy. The 
younger branches are downy and briHly, terminating in 
copious, umbellate or cymole, large white flowers, whofe 
Halks and calyx are clothed with reddifh-brown promi¬ 
nent briHly hairs, like thofe of the beautiful rofe-acacia, 
Robinia hifpida. This is one of the mofl flately plants, 
■when in perfection, that have been procured from New 
Holland. 
2. MetroAderos floribunda, or many-flowered metrofl- 
deros : leaves oppoflte, flalked, ovate-lanceolate ; panicle 
crofs-branched; flower-flalks umbellate. Native of New 
South Wales; lent by fir J. Banks, about 1788, to Kew, 
where it blooms in the greenhoufe about July and Au¬ 
guH. A more fpveading, flender, and fmooth, flirub than 
the preceding, with long lanceolate leaves refembling 
thofe of an Eucalyptus. The flowers are copious, white, 
much fmaller than the former, in numerous fmall umbels. 
3. MetroAderos coflata, or angular-fruited metroAderos : 
leaves oppoflte, flalked, linear-lanceolate, pointed, ob¬ 
lique ; panicle repeatedly crofs-branched ; flower-flalks 
imperfeftly umbellate. Native of New South Wales. 
Leaves narrower, longer, more rigid and fhining, than 
the lafl, as well as more oblique, or falcate. Flowers 
twice as large, yellowifli-white ; the flrong angles of the 
calyx permanent in the obovate woody fruit. 
4. MetroAderos diffufa, or fpreading metroAderos: 
leaves oppoflte, ovate, veipy, fmooth on both Ades; pa¬ 
nicles axiilary, and terminal, with oppoAte flower-flalks. 
Gathered by Forfter in New Zealand, and by Nellon in 
Otaheite. The Item is much branched, and by the name 
we prefume it fpreads horizontally. Leaves numerous, 
©n fliortiih thick ftalks, one inch and a half long. 
Flowers in denfe level-topped panicles; calyx fmooth, 
short, hemifpherical, without angles; the teeth broad and 
Vol. XV. No. 1041, 
I D E R O S. 
blunt. The petals, and long ftamens and ftyle, appear 
to us (fays Dr. Smith) crimfon; the younger Linnaeus 
judged them, by his ill-dried fpecimen, to be yellow. 
5. Metrofideros villofa, or hoary metroAderos : leaves 
oppoflte, ovate, veiny, downy beneath ; panicles denfe r 
axillary and terminal, oppoflte, downy; flowers l'eflile, 
crowded. Gathered in Otaheite by the Foriters, as well 
as by Mr. Archibald Menzies. The Aze and habit are 
like the lafl; but the Ane downy hoarinefs of the flower-- 
ftalks, calyx, tender branches, and backs of the younger 
leaves, charafterife the prefent beautiful fpecies. 
6. MetroAderos florida, or flowery metroAderos : leaves 
oppoflte, elliptic-oblong or obovate, veiny, fmooth; pa¬ 
nicle denfe, terminal; calyx turbinate, fmooth. Native 
of New Zealand. A Ane fpecies, fmooth in every part, 
with long, leafy, round, branches. Leaves near two inches 
in length. Flowers large and handfome, crimfon, in denfe 
obtule terminal panicles, whofe ftalks are ufually three- 
flowered. 
7. MetroAderos umbeliata, or umbellate metroAderos: 
leaves oppoflte, lanceolate, pointed, fmooth; flowers in 
terminal Ample umbels; calyx turbinate, Alky, with naked 
teeth ; petals oblong. Gathered in New Zealand by Mr. 
Menzies; and fpecimens were gathered by Louis Nee, 
near the town at Port Jackfon, New South Wales. Stem 
eight or ten feet high; branches ereCt, repeatedly 
forked, fmooth, leafy, round, or (lightly angular. Flowers 
large, red, in Ample very clofe umbels, the (talks being 
extremely fliort and thick. 
8. MetroAderos glomulifera, or clufter-flowered metro¬ 
Aderos: leaves oppoAte, ovate, reticulated with veins, 
downy beneath ; heads of flowers lateral, flalked, downy 
as well as the bradtes. Gathered near Port Jackfon by 
the late Mr. David Burton. Mr. Brown lent it in 180; 
to Kew garden, where it blofl'oms in May and June. This 
fpecies leems arborefcent. Flowers whitilh, in globofe 
heads ; footftalks, common flower-flalk, calyx, and petals, 
clothed with Ane hoary down; ftamens and ftyle reddifti. 
9. MetroAderos anguftifolia, or narrow-leaved metroA¬ 
deros : leaves oppoAte, linear-lanceolate, naked; flower- 
flalks axillary, umbellate ; bradles lanceolate, fmooth, de¬ 
ciduous. Native of the Cape of Good Hope, from whence 
it was lent by Mr. Maffon to Kew in 1787, but has not 
yet flowered there. It is a bufliy fhrub, with fmooth nar¬ 
row leaves, two inches long, one-third of an inch broad, 
and flnely dotted on both Ades. Flowers numerous, fmall, 
white, in oppoflte axillary clufters. It is Angular that 
Thunberg, who lent perfedt fpecimens, with ripe fruit, 
to Linnaeus, ftiould ftill retain this plant as a Myrtus in 
his Prodromus, p. 87. 
II. Leaves alternate. 10. MetroAderos ciliata, or fringed 
metroAderos: leaves fcattered, imperfedtly oppoAte, ellip¬ 
tical, obtufe, coriaceous, fomewhat fringed at the bafe; 
corymbs terminal, hairy. Gathered by Forfter in the 
Aland of New Caledonia, not in New South Wales. A 
low bufliy Ihrub, with numerous leaves, like thofe of a 
Buxus or Celaftrus, an inch long. Flowers deep red, 
large, and handfome; a few together at the ends of the 
branches, on corymbofe flightly-hairy ftalks. It is great¬ 
ly to be wilhed that this fpecies, and filch as mofl re- 
femble it, could be obtained for the gardens of Europe. 
11. MetroAderos linearis, or linear-leaved metroAderos: 
leaves fcattered, linear, channelled, acute, roughifli, rigid ; 
flowers lateral, crowded, fertile. Native of New South 
Wales. Communicated to the Kew garden by Ar Jofeph 
Banks, about the year 1788. A flout andnfigid fhrub, or 
fmall tree, with round fmooth branches. Leaves not un¬ 
like thofe of fome kinds of fir, in their general appear¬ 
ance, being very numerous, three or four inches long, 
fcarcely more than a line broad, Angle-ribbed, dark green, 
bluntilh, with a fmall pungent point. Flowers, fertile, in 
confiderable numbers, round the young branches, for the 
fpace of three inches or more, fpreading every way, the 
branch being continued, and leafy beyond them; calyx 
bell-lhaped, fmooth, and even; petals orbicular, convex, 
4 A green. 
