WEINMANNIA SILVICOLA, Banks and Solander. 
THE TAWHERO. 
Orper—SAXIFRAGEAL. 
(Plate LX XII.) 
Tur tawhero is a handsome evergreen tree, from 2oft. to 7oft. in height, and 
when covered with its erect racemes of white or pale-red flowers presents a most 
attractive appearance. It is, however, a source of perplexity to persons com- 
mencing their acquaintance with the forest flora of New Zealand, on account of 
its great variability: on the largest specimens the leaves are all simple or nearly 
so, on others they may be partly simple and partly composed of three leaflets, 
and on others again the leaves may be furnished with from three to ten pairs of 
leaflets. These forms were considered to be true species by Allan Cunningham; 
but in the “Flora Novae-Zelandiw’’ Sir Joseph Hooker described them as 
varieties, and in ‘*‘ The Handbook of the New Zealand Flora” stated that he 
found that they did not hold good even as varieties—a conclusion to which most 
botanists will assent. In fact it seems advisable to unite the two New Zealand 
species, as there are no permanent characters by which they can be sharply 
defined. I do not, however, propose to take this step at present. 
It is worthy of note that the forms with numerous leaflets are not found 
south of the Auckland Isthmus: in fact this species is a northern plant, being 
replaced by VW. racemosa from the Taupo country southward. 
The trunk varies from tft. to 3ft. in diameter, but only attains its maximum 
in suitable situations at altitudes above 1,500ft. The leaves are opposite, and 
in the young state from 4in. to toin. in length, and consist of several pairs of 
narrow sessile leaflets, lanceolate in shape, and coarsely toothed, with a large 
terminal leaflet: two broad-toothed stipules are developed at the base of each 
leaf; sometimes this condition is retained for the entire life of the plant, flowers 
being produced as in other forms ; but most frequently the leaflets are reduced 
to two or three pairs, or to three leaflets, or even to a single leaflet, and not 
unfrequently simple leaves and compound leaves with a variable number of pairs 
f leaflets may be found on the same tree. It should be mentioned that the 
leaflets of large leaves are uniform in size from the apex of the leaf to its base— 
a character by which this plant is at once distinguished from Ackama rosefolia, in 
which the leaflets gradually diminish in size towards the base of the leaf. 
The branchlets, leaves or at least the midribs of the young leaves, and the 
pedicels of the flowers are all more or less clothed with fine hairs. The leaflets 
are jointed to the petioles, and vary in shape from lanceolate to broadly- 
ovate, and may be sessile or narrowed into a short leaf-stalk : they may be mem- 
branous in texture, or stout and shining. As a rule the forms with numcrous 
leaflets are usually of a paler colour and more membranous texture : they are 
also more pubescent. 
The flowers are about ;4in. in diameter, and are produced in great profu- 
sion: although of extremely small size individually, their vast number renders a 
