598 MYRTACEAE. | Hugenwa. 
An immense genus of more than 700 species, spread over the tropical and 
subtropical regions of both hemispheres. There is little to separate it from Myrtus 
except the thick and fleshy embryo with a short radicle. The single New Zealand 
species is endemic. 
1, E. maire A. Cunn. Precur, (1839) n. 564.—A small tree 20-50 it. 
high, perfectly glabrous in all its parts; trunk 1-2 ft. diam., with white 
bark; branchlets slender, 4-angled. Leaves opposite, 1-2 in. long, oblong- 
lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate to elliptic-oblong, acute or acuminate, 
rather membranous, narrowed into short slender petioles. Flowers 4 in. 
diam., sometimes almost unisexual, white, in terminal many-flowered 
corymbose panicles 1}-3in. broad; pedicels slender, glabrous. Calyx- 
tube broadly obconic ; lobes very short. broad, deciduous. Petals orbicular, 
falling away early. Stamens slender, }-3in. long. Ovary wholly adnate 
to the base of the calyx-tube, 2-celled; ovules numerous. Berry } in. 
diam. or more, irregularly globose, red, crowned by the persistent calyx- 
limb, l-celled, Seed solitary, large; testa hard, coriaceous—Raoul Choix 
(1846) 49; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel.i (1853) 71; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 74 ; 
L. Kirk Forest Fl. (1889) t. 122; Students’ Fl. (1899) 165; Cheesem. Man. 
N.Z. Fl. (1906) 170, 
NortH Istanp: Swampy forests from the North Cape southwards, abundant. 
Souts Istanp: Queen Charlotte Sound and Pelorus Valley, J. Rutland. Sea-level 
to 1500 ft. Mavtre-tawake. March—May. 
For an account of the discovery of pneumatophores in this species, reference should 
be made to a short note by myself published in Trans. N.Z. Inst. lii (1920) 9. 
Family LXXTV. GNAGHAGEAE. 
Herbs, rarely shrubs or small trees. Leaves opposite or alternate, 
simple, entire or toothed, exstipulate. Flowers usually regular, herma- 
phrodite. Calyx-tube often elongated, altogether adnate to the ovary, 
sometimes produced beyond it; limb of 2-5 valvate lobes. Petals as many 
as the calyx-lobes, inserted at the top of the calyx-tube, rarely wanting. 
Stamens as many or twice as many as the petals, inserted with them. 
Ovary inferior, usually 2—4-celled ; style simple, filiform ; stigma capitate or 
2-4-lobed ; ovules usually numerous in each cell, in 1 or 2 series, pendulous 
or ascending; placentas axile. Fruit various, generally a 2-4-celled 
capsule with loculicidal or septicidal dehiscence, sometimes a berry, rarely 
nut-like. Seeds usually small, sometimes provided with a tuft of hairs ; 
albumen none, or a thin layer only. 
A small family of about 36 genera and 480 species, widely spread in temperate 
regions, rare in the tropics; most plentiful in North America, especially in Mexico. 
Many of the species have handsome flowers, and are frequently cultivated in gardens, 
particularly the genera Godetia, Oenothera, Clarkia, and Fuchsia, but they have no 
other economical importance. Of the New Zealand genera, Epilobium is universal in 
cool climates; Fuchsia is confined to South America with the exception of the New 
Zealand species, 
Herbs. Fruit an elongated capsule. Seeds with a tuft of hairs 1. EPILopium. 
Shrubs or small trees. Fruita berry  .. ss ae .. 2. FucHsta. 
