MYRTUS OBCORDATA, Hook. f. 
THE ROHUTU. 
Orper—MYRTACE A. 
(Plate LXX.) 
Turs charming myrtle is a much-branched evergreen shrub or small tree, Oft. to 
r5ft. high, producing its white flowers and red berries in great profusion. Its 
branchlets are clothed with fine pubescence, and its leaves are opposite or 
fascicled, from Hin. to fully din. in length, broadest in the upper portion of the 
leaf, narrowed into the short leaf-stalk below, and with a deep notch at the tip: 
they are perfectly smooth, but dotted with pellucid glands, 
The flowers are white, solitary, and carried on slender downy peduncles, 
springing from the axils of the leaves; they are about in. in diameter. The 
calyx is four-lobed, and the petals are four in number, both calyx and petals 
being closely dotted with translucent glands. The stamens are very numerous, 
and spring from the inner rim of the calyx: from their great number they appear 
to form the chief portion of the flower: the ovary is immersed within the calyx- 
tube, and the style is longer than the stamens. The fruit is a crimson berry 
containing two bony seeds: the peduncle elongates during the ripening of the 
fruit. 
This species forms an attractive object during the months of December and 
January when the white flowers are fully expanded. 
PROPERTIES AND USEs. 
The wood possesses many good qualities ; it is strong and compact, even in 
the grain, tough, and elastic. As it is of a red colour and very prettily marked 
it is occasionally used by the cabinetmaker for inlaying and ornamental turned- 
work of small dimensions. It is valued for the handles of chisels, mallets, and 
other tools used by the joiner, &c. 
DIsTRIBUTION OF THE GENUS. 
Fully one hundred species are comprised in Myrtus. M. comununis, the com- 
mon myrtle of gardens, occurs in Southern Europe and Western Asia; the others 
are distributed through the temperate regions of the Southern Hemisphere, the 
Andes, Mexico, one extending to the West Indies; nine species are found in 
Australia, six in New Caledonia, and four in New Zealand, all of which are 
endemic. 
DisTRIBUTION OF THE SPECIES.” 
The northern limit of Myrtus obcordata appears to be near the head of the 
Hauraki Gulf; it has been reported to occur in the neighbourhood of W hangaret, 
but it is to be feared that an error has occurred. It is found in the northern 
parts of Taranaki and Hawke’s Bay, but never in such abundance as M. pedun- 
culata. It is not infrequent near Wellington, and in various parts of the 
South Island as far south as Otago. Ihave a single scrap of what appears to 
