KNIGHTIA EXCELSA, R. Brown. 
THE REWAREWA. 
ORDER—PROTEACE:. 
(Plate XXXV.) 
THE rigid branches of the rewarewa, combined with its lofty stature, render it one 
of the most striking trees of the New Zealand flora; its fastigiate habit renders 
it unique in our forests: when growing amongst a number of ordinary round- 
headed trees it produces the same effect in the landscape as that exhibited by 
the Lombardy poplar when growing amongst oak or ash, to which it affords a 
pleasant relief and a welcome contrast. 
The rewarewa attains the height of from 70ft. to rooft., with a trunk from 
14ft. to 3ft. in diameter. The bark is smooth and even, usually of a dark-brown 
colour, but in some specimens nearly black. The branches are rigid and erect, 
forming a spiry fastigiate head, and the leaves are carried on short leaf-stalks, 
the blades being from 5in. to 8in. long, rigid, hard, and blunt, with coarse teeth. 
The branchlets, the under-surfaces of the leaves, and even the flowers are 
clothed with a fine velvety down, which, in the flowers, is of a deep reddish- 
brown, and renders them very conspicuous. 
The flowers are arranged singly or in pairs in cylindrical racemes, 2in. in 
diameter, springing from the axils of the leaves or from naked parts of the 
branches, and are very shortly pedicelled: a raceme consists of from fifty to 
eighty flowers. Each flower is a narrow tube, about r3in. long, slightly dilated 
at the base and apex, consisting of four leaves or segments, which, before 
expansion, cohere for their entire length. A single anther, destitute of a filament, 
is carried near the apex of the inner face of each segment, so that the four 
anthers form a ring surrounding the thickened extremity of the style. The ovary 
is one-celled, with a long rigid style, which is club-shaped at its upper extremity, 
but is stigmatiferous at the apex only. At the base of the ovary are four small 
glands, which secrete honey in considerable quantity. The process of expansion 
is very interesting: the apex of the perianth separates into four very short lobes, 
which open sufficiently to allow the extremity of the style to be seen, but all 
further expansion is from the base upwards; the perianth gradually splits from 
below into four narrow segments, the last portion to be set free being that which 
immediately surrounds the thickened portion of the style. Each segment of the 
perianth becomes tightly rolled back on itself, forming a compact spiral, so that 
when expansion is complete the raceme presents a singular appearance: the 
rigid styles, with their swollen extremities, appear to spring from a confused 
mass of red spiral filaments. During the process of expansion most of the 
pollen is deposited on the sides of the club-shaped extremity of the style, 
although not in contact with the stigmatiferous apical portion, so that self-fer- 
tilisation is next to impossible; the pollen appears to be transferred to other 
flowers by insects or birds visiting the plants in search of honey. 
The fruit is woody, thin. long, opening along a single line, and is tipped 
with the long style; when expanded to liberate the seeds it resembles a 
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