594 MYRTACEAE. | Metrosideros. 
short, stout, glabrous or puberulous. Flowers dark-scarlet, very abundantly 
produced, in broad and dense terminal many-flowered cymes; peduncles 
and pedicels short, stout, pubescent. Calyx-tube short, obconic; lobes 
short and broad, triangular. Petals exceeding the calyx-lobes, orbicular. 
Ovary adnate to the base of the calyx-tube and included within it during the 
flowering stage. Capsule small, oblong, }-41in. long, halt-superior, girt 
round the middle by the rim of the calyx-tube, the free upper part 
loculicidally 3-valved.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. 1 (1853) 68, t. 17; Handb. 
N.Z. Fl. (1864) 72; 7. Kirk Forest Fl. (1889) t. 128; Students’ Fl. (1899) 
162; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl: (1906) 165. M. florida Hook. in Bot. Mag. 
(1849) t. 4471 (not of Smith). ,, oop +p uiricdaca Cars TVS FHF 
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nF 
Var. retusa 7’. K irk 1.c. —Leaves shorter, $—# in. long, elliptic, rounded at both ends, 
retuse. Two specimens in Mr. Kirk’s herbarium, from Lowry Bay, Wellington. 
’ Nortu AnD Soutu Istanps: Abundant in forests from the North Cape southwards 
to Marlborough, Nelson, and Westland. Sea-level to 3000 ft. Rata. December— 
January. T. TALIGQKD A, 
A magnificent tree, sometimes reaching a gigantic size, specimens having been 
measured with trunks over 20ft. diam. It usually (but not invariably) commences 
life as an epiphyte in the upper branches of some tall forest-tree, sending to the ground 
aerial rocts, which coalesce and form a trunk after the death of the supporting plant. 
Terrestrial specimens are frequently seen, but these either have no trunk at all, keeping 
during life the habit of a much-branched bushy shrub, or produce a short, straight 
trunk of no great size. The timber is strong, hard, and durable, and is much employed 
for wheelwright’s work, framework for machinery, wagons, &c., and for shipbuilding. 
9. M. tomentosa dA. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. (1832) 336, t. 37.—Usually 
a much-branched tree 30-70 ft. high, with a short stout trunk 2-5 ft. diam., 
and large wide-spreading branches, but sometimes dwarfed to a few feet 
in height; branchlets stout, terete, tomentose. Leaves decussate, very 
variable in size and shape, 1-4in. long, lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate to 
oblong or broadly oblong, acute or obtuse, rounded at the base, very thick 
and coriaceous, usually clothed with white tomentum beneath, rarely 
glabrous ; margins flat or recurved; petioles short, stout. Flowers large, 
dark-crimson, in broad terminal many-flowered cymes; peduncles and 
pedicels stout, and with the calyces clothed with dense white tomentum. 
Calyx-tube obconic ; lobes short, deltoid. Petals oblong, obtuse, exceeding 
the calyx-tube. Stamens numerous, 14-1din. long. Ovary 3-celled, adnate 
to the base of the calyx-tube, and sunk within it during the flowering 
stage. Capsule 4in. long, half-superior, woody, tomentose, girt round the 
middle by the persistent calyx-limb, the free upper part loculicidally 
3-valved.—A. Cunn. Precur. (1839) n. 558; Raoul Choix (1846) 49; Hook. 
f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 68 ; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 72; 1. Kirk Forest Fl. 
(1889) t. 118; Students’ Fl. (1899) 163; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 166. 
Nortu Isnanp: Abundant along the coast from the Three Kings Islands and 
the North Cape to Poverty Bay and Urenui (Taranaki); inland on the shores of 
Lakes Rotorua, Rotoiti, and the smaller adjoining lakes; Lake Tarawera and the 
Tarawera River, and Lake Taupo. Reported from Lake Waikaremoana by Colenso, 
but I have seen no recent specimens. Sea-level to 2000 ft. Pohutukawa ; 
Christmas-tree. 
A noble and picturesque tree, very abundant on the rocky cliffs and headlands 
of the northern portion of the North Island. Banks and Solander recorded it from 
Totaranui (Queen Charlotte Sound) in the South Island; but this is probably an 
error. The wood is largely employed for shipbuilding and other purposes requiring 
strength, hardness, and durability. 
