A stelia. | LILIACEAE. S17 
front, keeled and with a thin white silvery pellicle beneath ; sheathing base 
black, at the extreme base white and fleshy, glabrous or clothed with 
copious long white silky hairs. Male flowers: Scape stout, much shorter 
than the leaves, densely silky below, panicled ; branches few, 5-8, simple, 
3-9 in. long, lin. broad with the flowers on; bracts at the base of the 
branches very large, leafy, acuminate. Flowers very numerous, densely 
crowded, din. long, pale lemon-yellow; pedicels slender, ¢in., each sub- 
tended by a linear bract. Perianth 6-partite; segments reflexed, linear, 
obtuse, silky externally. Stamens as long as the segments; anthers linear, 
erect, sagittate at the base. Female flowers: Scape stout, branched as in 
the male; but branches longer and more slender, sometimes 12-14 in. long 
by 2in. diam., usually drooping in fruit. Flowers much smaller; perianth 
with a hemispherical tube closely surrounding the ovary ; segments reflexed. 
Ovary globose, 3-celled ; ovules numerous, attached to the inner angles of 
the cells. Berry rather small, tin. diam., globose, bright-red. Seeds small, 
obovoid, slightly curved, not angled, black—Raoul Choix (1846) 40; Hook. 
jf. #l. Nov, Zel. i (1853) 260; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 284; Bot. Mag. 
t. 5503 ; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 712; Cockayne Veg. N.Z. (1921) t. 27, 
29. “A. microsperma Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvii (1885) 251. A. albicans 
Col. l.c. 252. A. hastata Col. l.c. xix (1887) 265. 
Nortu Istanp : Abundant in forests throughout. SourH Isnanp: Marlborough—- 
Queen Charlotte Sound, Banks and Solander ; Pelorus Valley, J. Rutland, J. H. Macmahon ! 
Nelson—Common on the West Coast, from Collingwood and Westport southwards. 
Sea-level to 3000 ft. Kahakaha. January—February. 
A very distinct species, at once known by the broad almost glabrous 3-nerved 
leaves with a nearly black sheathing base, by the densely placed flowers, the males 
being much longer and narrower than in any other species, and by the small red 
globose berry. It is a conspicuous plant in all the forest districts of the North Island, 
from its habit of growing perched high up on the limbs of tall forest-trees, where it 
forms huge tufts resembling the nests of some gigantic bird, for which, in fact, it was 
mistaken when first seen by Cook and his officers in 1769. 
7. A. nervosa Banks and Sol. ex Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 260.— 
A large and stout densely tufted plant, often forming extensive masses in 
moist forests or swampy ground. Leaves very numerous, spreading, 2-5 ft. 
or even up to 8ft. long, 1-3in. broad, or in large specimens as much as 
4in., inear-lanceolate or linear-ensiform, tapering upwards into an acumi- 
nate point, dilated at the sheathing base, coriaceous, many-nerved, one 
nerve on each side stouter than the rest and with the midrib often coloured 
red or purplish-red ; glabrous above or rarely silky, beneath more or less 
scurty or clothed with silky appressed hairs, rarely nearly glabrous; margins 
recurved, usually silky ; sheathing base densely villous with long silky hairs. 
Flowers sweet-scented, dark-green or greenish-black. Male flowers: Scape 
very stout, erect or inclined, 6 in. to 2 ft. long, thickening upwards to the base 
of the panicle, where it is sometimes 1} in. diam., obtusely triquetrous; lower 
portion shaggy with copious long silky hairs ; upper part silky or glabrate. 
Panicle 4-15 in. long, much-branched ; bracts very long, lanceolate, gradually 
narrowed upwards into long attenuated points. Flowers 41in. diam. ; 
pedicels o-gin. long. Perianth-segments ovate -lanceolate, spreading, 
ultimately reflexed. Stamens as long as the segments ; filaments subulate ; 
anthers broadly oblong. Female flowers: Scape as in the male, but 
shorter ; panicle much shorter and more compact; branches fewer, short, 
stiff, erect. Flowers smaller, crowded ; pedicels very short. Perianth- 
segments smaller. Ovary broadly conical, faintly grooved, 3-celled ; ovules 
