a =e 
ores 
Be ge ‘pmmmili 3>', aut ha nies CdRown, Oe 
378 ; ORACEAE. Paratrophis. 
(Rago) Coa + 2, 1A me Oa 
1. P. microphylla /Cockayne Veg. N.Z. (1921) 355.—A tree 15-40 ft. 
high, with a trunk 9-24in. diam.; bark grey or almost white, rough 
with raised lenticels ; branches numerous, crowded, glabrous or pubescent ; 
those of young plants long and slender, flexuous, often interlaced, pubescent 
or setose at the tips, bark dark-brown. Leaves of young plant remote, 
3-¢ 1n. long, broadly obovate to oblong-obovate, acute or obtuse, cuneate 
at the base, rather membranous, glabrous or pubescent, serrate, often 
irregularly lobed or almost pinnatifid ; of mature trees 4-1} in. long, oblong- 
ovate or oblong-obovate to elliptic, obtuse or acute, crenate or crenate- 
dentate, coriaceous, dark-green, prominently reticulate. Male spikes 
4-1 in. long, shortly pedunculate, cylindric. Flowers closely packed, minute, 
sessile, intermixed with peltate scales. Perianth-segments rounded, margins 
ciliate. Stamens exserted. Female spikes }-din. long, 3-8-flowered. 
Flowers lax, very minute, intermixed with peltate scales. Perianth- 
segments appressed to the ovary, the 2 outer rather smaller. Drupe 
globose, small, red, 4 in. diam., usually 1 and seldom as many as 3 ripening 
on each spike.—P. heterophylla Blume Mus. Bot. Lugd. Bat. ii (1852) 81; 
Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 632; Ill. N.Z. Fl. ii (1914) t. 180. Epicar- 
purus microphyllus Raoul Choix (1846) 14, t.9; Hook. f. Handh. N.Z. Fl. 
(1864) 251. Trophis opaca Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 224 (in part). 
Taxotrophis microphylla F. Muell. Fraqm. Phyt. Austral. vi (1868) 193. 
NortTH AND SourH Istanps: Not uncommon in lowland forests throughout. 
Turepo ; Milk-tree. October—February. 
Abounding in milky sap, which is said to be palatable. The wood is dense and 
heavy, but not durable. The spikes are often diseased, and converted into large much- 
branched panicles densely clothed with small imbricating bracts, the flowers being 
altogether aborted. 
2, ke opaca/ Britton and Rendle in Journ. Bot. (1907) 74.—A small 
tree 15-25 ft. high, glabrous or the young branches pubescent ; bark brown. 
Leaves usually close-set, spreading, 14-34 in. long, ovate-oblong or elliptic- 
oblong, obtuse or acute, coriaceous, glabrous, obtusely crenate or crenate- 
dentate, veins finely reticulate. Spikes solitary or geminate or rarely 8 
together, axillary, rarely terminal, pedunculate. Males 1-2in. long, 
cylindrical, densely many-flowered ; flowers intermixed with peltate scales. 
Perianth rather larger than in P. heterophylla. Female spikes 3-1 in. long ; 
flowers 8-25 or more, distichous, rhachis compressed. Drupe broadly 
ovoid, red, }in. diam., always several and often many ripening on each 
spike-—P. Banksii Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 633. PP. heterophylla 
var. elliptica:T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxix (1897) 500, t. 46. Trophis 
opaca Banks and Sol. ex Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 224 (in part). 
| IqiG ~p, & 34. ; 
NortH Istanp: Usually near the sea. Bay of Islands, Colenso/ Whangarei 
Heads and Hen and Chicken Islands, 7’. F. C. ; Great Barrier Island, Omaha. 7. Kirk / 
Cuvier Island, 7. F. C.; Mayor Island, Dr. Thilenius; Cabbage Bay, Adams ! 
East Cape district, Banks and Solander, Bishop Williams! Petrie! Cook Strait, 
TY. Kirk! Wainuiomata to Orongorongo, Cook Strait, B. C. Aston! Stephen Island, 
Hf. H. Travers! Sours Istanp: Motuaro Island (Queen Charlotte Sound), Banks and 
Solander! J. H. Macmahon ! 
This is separated from P. microphylla by the much larger leaves, longer spikes, more 
numerous female flowers, and much larger and more numerous drupes; and in its 
extreme form has a very distinct appearance. Intermediate states, however, are by 
no means uncommon. 
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