586 THYMELAEACEAE. | Drapetes. 
smooth, glabrous or nearly so when old, but the upper 3 of the margins 
and the apex ciliate when young. Flowers small, polygamo-dioecious, in 
3-8-flowered heads at the tips of the branches, sunk amongst the upper- 
most leaves. Male perianth about 4in. long, funnel-shaped, the lobes 
about 4 the length of the tube. Scales very variable, sometimes a single 
entire one at the base of each lobe, but more often the scale is 2-lobed or 
divided to the base into 2 distinct but closely approximate scales. Stamens 
with long slender filaments, the anthers almost reaching the top of the 
lobes. Ovary and style very small, abortive. Female (or hermaphrodite) 
perianth smaller and broader. Anthers much smaller, usually empty, on 
shorter filaments. Ovary large, densely villous at the tip; style long; 
stigma capitate, exserted. Fruit small, ovoid.—Raoul Chow (1846) 42; 
Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 222; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 245; Cheesem. 
Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 645. D. macrantha Col, m Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxi 
(1890) 487. Kelleria Dieffenbachia Endl. Gen. Suppl. iv (1847) 61; Mersn. 
in DC. Prodr. xiv (1856) 566, | ) 
Igoe. bil. o >° 
Var. laxa Cheesem\—Pale-green, more laxly branched, Leaves larger, spreading 
or ascending, 4—i in. long, linear-oblong, obtuse, rather thin, almost flat, conspicuously 
nerved, ciliate on the margins and back. Heads 3-8-flowered. Perianth-lobes almost 
equalling the tube; scales 8, small. Perhaps a distinct species, 
NortH AND SoutH ISLANDS, STEWART ISLAND: Common in mountain districts 
from Moehau (Cape Colville) and Hikurangi southwards. Var. Jaxa.: Ruahine 
Mountains, Z'ryon! Nelson— Mountains flanking the Wairau Valley, 7. F. C.; 
Mount Murchison, W. Townson / 2000-4500 ft. December—March. 
A very variable plant, which does not seem to be separated by any definite 
characters from the following species. The var. lawa may prove distinct, but it 
requires further study with a larger suite of specimens than has yet been obtained. 
Seg GG + Gl& . 
2. D. villosa, Cheesem.— Very similar in most of its characters to 
D. Dieffenbachu, but usually a more robust plant, with the branchlets more 
or less villous with greyish hairs, and with slightly larger leaves that are 
somewhat broader at the base, and have the margins and frequently the 
back cilate to the base. Flowers in 3—4-flowered heads at the tips of the 
branches, similar to those of D. Dieffenbachii, but the glands always 8.— 
Kelleria villosa Berggren in Muinnesk. Fisiog. Sallsk. Lund. (1877) 18, 
t. 5, f. 1-15. | | 
yretichr 
Var. multiflora.— Leaves longer, strict, ascending, 41-Lin. long, narrow linear- 
lanceolate, tapering from the base to an obtuse tip, slightly convex on the back, 
conspicuously 5-nerved ; margins ciliate with long straight hairs and with a pencil 
of hairs at the apex. Flowers in 5-12-flowered heads at the tips of the branches. 
Glands 8, very small. 
SoutH IstanD: Mountain districts in Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago, apparently 
not uncommon. Var. multiflora: Nelson—Mount Arthur Plateau, 7. F. O.; Mount 
Faraday, W. Townson! Lake Tennyson, R. M. Laing. Canterbury — Candlestick 
Mountains, Mount Oxford, Cockayne! Mount Torlesse, 7. F. C. Westland—Kelly’s 
Hill, Petrie / 2500-4500 ft. December—March. 
Not at alla satisfactory species. ‘The var. multiflora agrees in the villous branches, 
but differs in a marked degree in the longer, strict, strongly nerved leaves, and more 
numerous flowers. All the forms of villosa and Dieffenbachii are much in need of a 
careful revision. 
3. D. Lyallii Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii (1855) 336.—A compactly 
branched moss-like plant, usually forming dense patches 1-4in. diam. ; 
branches short, erect or ascending. Leaves very densely imbricate, usually 
