Melicytus. | VIOLACEAE. _ O13 
* 4 e 
Var. longiuseulus (Cheesem. — Leaves usually larger, 3—I in., oblong-obovate. 
Flowers on longer pedir. Fruit small, globose, 4-¢ in. 
Var. microphylius , Cheesem. — Leaves smaller, 3-3 in., orbicular-obovate. Pedicels 
shorter, Fruit large,“ ovoid, }-}in.—M. microphyllus Col. in Trans. N.Z. Insi. x1x 
(1887) 260, and xx (1888) 189. 
Nort anp Sourn Istanps: Abundant in lowland forests, by the side of 
streams, &c., from the Bay of Islands to Otago. November-May. 
Easily distinguished from all other species of Melicyius by the stiff rigid habit, 
small leaves, and minute few-seeded berries. It is exceedingly variable ; and the two 
varieties characterized above are certainly connected by intermediate forms. 1 am 
much indebted to Mr. Carse for a fine series of flowering and fruiting specimens ot 
both varieties, collected near Mauku, where they appear to grow intermixed. Mr. 
Colenso’s herbarium also contains numerous well-selected specimens, 
Jha (lege 21 -75,3, HYMENANTHERA R. Br. 1%). 
Rigid woody shrubs. Leaves alternate or fascicled, entire or tcothed ; 
stipules minute, fugacious. Flowers small, regular, hermaphrodite or 
unisexual, solitary or fascicled, axillary or on the naked branches below the 
leaves. Sepals 5, obtuse, united at the base. Petals 5, rounded at the tip. 
Anthers 5, sessile, connate into a tube surrounding the pistil ; connectives 
terminating in a toothed or fimbriate process, and furnished with an erect 
scale at the back. Style short ; stigma 2-fid, rarely 3-4-fid. Fruit a small 
subglobose berry ; seeds usually 2, rarely 3-4. 
A small genus of about half a dozen species, found in New Zealfind, Australia and 
Tasmania, and Norfolk Island. The New Zealand species are exceedingly difficult of 
discrimination. They vary greatly in the leaves and vegetative characters generally ; 
and the flowers and fruit, so far as they are known, are very similar in all. Most of them 
occur in localities which are not easily reached, making it difficult to secure specimens 
in a proper state for comparison. 
A much-branched shrub, branches fexuose and zigzag 
or depressed and densely compacted. Leaves linear 
or linear-cuneate 7 vs ay .. 1. H. dentata var. angustifolia. 
A much-branched rigid maritime shrub. Leaves small, 
linear-spathulate or linear-obovate, $—1 in. long .. 2. H. crassifolia. 
A stout or slender branching shrub. Leaves obovate, 
32in. long. Flowers solitary or in 2-3-flowered 
fascicles i * ne ‘* yr 
Stout spreading shrub. Leaves large, 15-4 1n., ovate- 
oblong to obovate, sinuate-toothed. “Flowers nume- 
rous, Berry 2-seeded <. % +e 
Tall erect shrub. Leaves large, 3-5in., lanceolate or 
ovate-lanceolate, serrate. Flowers numerous. Berry 
4-seeded nt ‘ 5. H. chathamica. 
We enero ikednd R.Br. 36D. Breen, 6 BISU SHE 
|. H. detttata A> Br. var. angustifolia Benth. Fl. Austral. 1 (1863) 
104.—A much-branched frequently leafless ngid shrub, in sheltered situa- 
tions 4-8 ft. high, with flexuous er zigzag often interlaced branches; in 
exposed or alpine places shorter and mucn dwarfed, with the branches 
densely compacted and ending in stout thorns. Branchlets terete or grooved, 
covered with minute lenticels. Leaves few or many, often altogether 
wanting, alternate or fascicled, 4-i in. long, linear or linear-cuneate or linear- 
obovate, obtuse or retuse, entire or sinuate or irregularly lobed, varying 
from almost membranous to thick and coriaceous, narrowed into very short 
petioles. Flowers minute, solitary or geminate, on very short decurved 
peduncles, dicecious. Male flowers: Sepals rounded, with fimbriate margins. 
3. H. obovata. 
4. H. novae-zelandiae. 
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