546 CORTARIACEAE. | Corraria. 
Family LIX. CORIARIACKAE. 
Glabrous shrubs, sometimes small and almost herbaceous; branches 
angular, the lower opposite. Leaves opposite or rarely in whorls of 3, 
entire, exstipulate. Flowers regular, hermaphrodite or polygamous, small, 
usually in axillary racemes. Sepals 5, imbricate, persistent. Petals 5, 
hypogynous, smaller than the sepals, keeled within, enlarged after flower- 
ing and becoming thick and fleshy and embracing the fruit. Stamens 10, 
hypogynous, free, or the alternate ones adnate to the petals; filaments 
short ; anthers large. Disc absent. Carpels 5-10, free, 1-celled, whorled 
on a short conical receptacle ; styles as many as the carpels, free, thick, 
elonyated, covered for the whole length with stigmatic papillae; ovules 
solitary, pendulous from the top of the cell. Fruit of 5-10 oblong inde- 
hiscent cocci, closely embraced by the fleshy and juicy petals, 1-celled, 
l-seeded. Seed with a membranous testa; albumen a thin layer only ; 
embryo with plano-convex cotyledons and a superior radicle. 
A small family of very doubtful relationship, comprising the single genus Coriaria. 
Species 8 or 10, found in New Zealand, South America, Japan, China, the Himalayas, 
north Africa, and south Europe, i ; 
CORIARIA Linn. 7-H X (14/0) 1LS 
Characters of the family, as above. TT, oT (igre) &)- 
Sh. (1428) 725, 
Shrub or small tree. Leaves 1-3in., oblong-ovate. Racemes 
drooping ae ¥e ae yo + .. 1. GC. ruscifolia, 
Suffruticose or herbaceous. Leaves }—1 in., ovate-lanceolate .. 2. CO. thymifolia, 
Herbaceous. Leaves }-} in., narrow-limnear a Ar .. 3. OC. angustissima. 
1. ©. ruseifolia Linn. Sp. Plant. (1753) 1037—A shrub or small tree 
with spreading 4-angled branches, very variable in height and degree of 
robustness, sometimes attaining 25 ft. with a trunk 10in. diam., at others 
not more than 2-4ft., with almost herbaceous stems. Leaves 1-3 in., 
ovate or oblong-ovate, acute or acuminate, rounded or cordate at the base, 
sessile or very shortly petioled, 3-5-nerved. Racemes drooping, many- 
flowered, 4-12 in. long or mure, slightly pubescent; pedicels slender, 
itin., bracteolate at the base. Flowers small, green, $-}in. diam., 
strongly proterogynous. Sepals broadly ovate, subacute. Filaments 
elongating after fertilization. Fruit globose, purplish-black, of 5-8 coccl 
enveloped by the persistent enlarged juicy petals.—AHook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. 1 
(1853) 45; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 46; 7%. Kirk Forest Fl. (1889) t. 189 ; 
Students’ Fl. (1899) 97; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 105; Ill. N.Z. Fl. 1 
(1914) t. 30. C. sarmentosa Forst. f. Prodi. (1786) n. 3717; A. Rich. Fl. 
Nouv. Zel, (1832) 364; Bot. Mag. (1824) t. 2470; A. Ounn. Precur. (1839) 
n. 581; Raoul Choix (1846) 47. CC. arborea and C. tutu Lindsay Contrib. 
N.Z. Bot. (1868) 84. é | ead 
Kermaprec Isuanps, Norrn anp Soura Isnanps, Stewart Isuanp, CHATHAM 
IstAnDS: Abundant throughout, ascending to 3500 ft. Tutu ; Tupakthi. 
An excessively variable plant, not only in habit of growth and size—the latter 
varying from 2 or 3 ft. to 25 ft. or even more—but also in the size and shape of the 
leaves, the number and length of the racemes, the number and size of the flowers, &C. 
Most parts of the plant are poisonous, and particularly the young shoots and seeds. 
The poisonous principle appears to be a glucoside, to which the name “ tutin ’ has been . 
ee = ’ ~ a | 
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