578 THY MELAEACEAE. [ Pimelea. 
1, PIMELEA Banks and Solander. $75%.- 
Shrubs or undershrubs, rarely herbs. Leaves opposite or alternate, 
usually small. Flowers hermaphrodite or polygamo-dioecious, usually 
terminal and capitate. Perianth-tube cylindrical; limb spreading, rarely 
erect, 4-lobed: throat without scales but sometimes thickened or folded. 
Stamens 2, inserted on the throat of the perianth opposite the 2 outer lobes ; 
filaments slender; anthers introrse. Hypogynous disc wanting. Ovary 
l-celled; style elongated; stigma capitate; ovule solitary, pendulous. 
Fruit small, drupaceous, included in the base of the perianth; epicarp 
dry or fleshy ; endocarp crustaceous. Seed pendulous, with a membranous 
testa ; albumen scanty or copious. 
A very natural and distinct genus of over 80 species, confined mainly to Australia 
and New Zealand. There are outlying species in Timor and Lord Howe Islands. 
The 15 species found in New Zealand are all endemic. Several of them are exceedingly 
variable, and appear to be connected by intermediate forms, making their proper 
definition a matter of great difficulty. This is specially the case with P. virgata, 
P. prostrata, P. Urvilleana, and P. Lyallii, the numerous forms of which require a careful 
study in the field before their proper position can be determined. 
The flowers of Pimelea are usually described as hermaphrodite. But all the New 
Zealand species are functionally dioecious, or occasionally polygamo-dioecious. The 
male flowers are the most numerous and the most conspicuous. ‘The stamens have long 
slender filaments, so that the anthers either reach the top of the perianth-lobes or are 
slightly exserted ; and the style with its comparatively small stigma is always included 
within the perianth. I have never seen fruit in this form, and believe that the pistil 
is quite functionless. The female flowers are smaller, often swollen at the base, 
although narrower above. The anthers are small, almost sessile, and are usually 
devoid of pollen. The ovary is large, with a short style and large capitate stigma, 
which is conspicuously exserted when the flower is mature. Pollen is sometimes present 
in this form, but in the majority of cases the flowers are strictly female. 
A. Erect shrubs. Branches and leaves usually glabrous. 
Leaves 1-3 in., broad or narrow lanceolate, flat. Flowers } in. 
long i 25 ‘4 ws t .. L. P. longifolia. 
Leaves }—# in., oblong or linear-oblong, often keeled. Flowers 
4—4 in. “ a $e Aa 4. .. 2 P. Gnidia. 
Leaves 4-}in., ovate or ovate-oblong, obtuse or subacute. 
Flowers } in. .. 3 P. Poppelwellii. 
Leaves uniform, 4-j in., densely quadrifariously imbricate .. 4. P. Crosby-Smithiana. 
Leaves {-}in., oblong or obovate-oblong, obtuse. Flowers 
4-1 in. P = r AA t .. OO P. Traversi. 
B. Erect or rarely procumbent shrubs. Branches pubescent or villous with silky hairs. 
Leaves {-}in., quadrifariously imbricate, oblong or elliptic, 
keeled, glabrous; floral often larger 
) ~3 .. 6. P. buxifolia. 
Leaves }-lin., not imbricate, linear-lanceolate, flat, silky 
beneath e 5 m taf .» I. P. virgata. 
Leaves #—-I}in., in distant pairs, broadly lanceolate, silky 
beneath es bs ré * is .. 8 P. Haastir. 
Leaves {-}in., opposite and decussate, oblong or elliptic, 
under-surface clothed with appressed white silky hairs .. 9. P. arenaria. 
Leaves smaller and narrower than above, otherwise very similar 10. P. aridula. 
C. Prostrate or procumbent or rarely erect shrubs. Branches pubescent or villous with 
silky hairs. | 
Branches grey, pubescent or villous or glabrate. Leaves 
jo3 in., linear-oblong to obovate-oblong, usually glabrous ll. P. prostrata. 
Branches with soft villous hairs. Leaves ¢-¢ in., oblong, 
obtuse, glabrous ti, Nh ra ne .. 12. P. Urvilleana. 
Branches tortuous, sparingly silky. Leaves +in., narrow 
linear-lanceolate, surfaces glabrous, margins and apices ciliate 13. P. Sutert. 
Branches silky. Leaves 4-lin., linear-oblong to elliptic- 
oblong, silky 24 ata 5 4 .. 14. P. Lyallic. 
Branches densely silky-villous. Leaves 4-} in., linear-oblong 
to elliptic-oblong, very densely silky-villous on both surfaces 15. P. sericeo-villosa. 
