596 MYRTACEAE. [ Myrtus. 
3. MYRTUS Linn. 
Shrubs or rarely trees, glabrous or pubescent or tomentose. Leaves 
opposite, often coriaceous, pellucid-dotted. Flowers axillary, solitary or in 
few-flowered cymes. Calyx-tube subglobose or turbinate; lobes 4-5, 
usually persistent. Petals 4-5, spreading. Stamens very numerous, in 
many series, free, longer than the petals. Ovary inferior, completely or 
imperfectly 2-3-celled ; ovules numerous in each cell. Fruit a globose or 
ovoid berry, crowned with the persistent calyx-limb. Seeds few or many, 
reniform or almost globose; testa crustaceous or bony. Embryo terete, 
curved or annular ; cotyledons small; radicle long. 
Species about 70, most of them natives of South America, a few extending to 
Mexico and the West Indies. There are also 9 or 10 Australian species, and 1 (the 
common myrtle) widely spread over southern Europe and western Asia. The 4 New 
Zealand species are all endemic. 
. M. bullata. 
. M. Ralph. 
. M. obcordata. 
M. pedunculata. 
Leaves 1-2 in. long, tumid between the veins .. 
Leaves 2-1 in. long, flat ae + 
Leaves }-}in., obcordate. Calyx 4-lobed 
Leaves 4-4 in., obovate. Calyx 5-lobed 
HH CO DD 
1, M. bullata Sol. ex A. Cunn. Precur. (1839) n. 565.—An erect shrub, 
usually from 10 to 15 ft., but sometimes taller and becoming a small tree 
20-25 ft. high; branchlets and young leaves tomentose. Leaves 1-2 in. 
long, reddish-brown, shortly petioled, broadly ovate or orbicular-ovate, 
obtuse or acute or apiculate, coriaceous, the surface tumid or blistered | 
between the veins. Flowers axillary, solitary, }in. diam., white. Peduncles 
longer or shorter than the leaves, tomentose. Calyx 2-bracteolate at the 
base; lobes 4, obtuse or subacute. Petals orbicular, white. Berry } in. 
long, broadly ovoid, dark-red, becoming almost black when fully ripe, 2-celled. 
Seeds numerous, in 2 series in each cell, reniform ; testa bony.—Hook. Ic. 
Plant. (1843) t. 557; Bot. Mag. (1854) t. 4809; Raoul Choir (1846) 49 ; 
Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. 1 (1853) 70; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 74; T. Kirk 
Forest Fl. (1889) t. 181; Students’ FI. (1899) 164; Oheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 
(1906) 168. 
Nortu Istanpd: Common in woods from the North Cape to Cook Strait. Sour 
IstanD: Various localities in Marlborough and Nelson, rare. Ascends to 2000 ft. 
Ramarama. December—January. 
Easily distinguished by the tumid or blistered surface of the leaves, and by the 
calyx and petals being covered with minute warts. The peduncles are sometimes 
2-flowered. 
2. M. Ralphii Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii (1855) 329.—An erect branching 
shrub 6-15 ft. high, rarely taller and becoming a small tree; branchlets 
very slender, and with the young leaves sparingly tomentose. Leaves 
§-Lin. long, usually green, shortly petioled, ovate or oblong-ovate to 
orbicular-ovate, obtuse or acute, thinly coriaceous or almost membranous, 
the surface flat or very slightly tumid between the veins. Flowers quite 
as in M. bullata but slightly smaller. Berry 1-Lin. long, broadly ovoid, 
dark-red, 2-celled. Seeds much fewer than in M. bullata——Handb. N.Z. 
Fl. (1864) 74; 7. Kirk Forest Fl. (1889) t. 94; Students’ Fl. (1899) 165 ; 
Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 169. 
Nortu Istanp: From Ahipara (Mongonui County) to Cook Strait, but often 
local. Sourn Istanp: Marlborough—Pelorus Valley and Queen Charlotte Sound, 
J. H, Macmahon! Nelson—Matai ‘Valley, rare, 7. F. C. Sea-level to 1500 ft. 
December—January. 
