638 ARALIACEAE. [ Meryta. 
3. MERYTA Forst.v17&. 
Small glabrous trees, more or less resinous. Leaves large, simple, entire 
or sinuate, extremely coriaceous. Flowers dioecious or polygamo-dioecious, 
either paniculate or closely compacted in sessile or stalked heads. Male 
flowers: Calyx-limb obsolete or 3-5-toothed. Petals varying in number 
from 5-15, but usually about 5, valvate. Stamens 5, alternating with the 
petals; filaments rather long; anthers ovate-oblong. Female flowers: 
Calyx-limb obsolete. Petals 4-5, small. Anthers sterile. Ovary ovoid, 
d—-many-celled ; styles thick, distinct, at length recurved. Fruit ovoid or 
globose ; exocarp fleshy ; cells 3-8, 1-seeded. Seeds compressed ; albumen 
homogeneous. 
With the exception of one species found in Queensland, this is almost purely a 
Polynesian and Melanesian genus. Its main home appears to be in New Caledonia, 
from whence no less than 13 species have been described out of the total number of 25. 
There are 2 or 3 in Tahiti, 1 in Rarotonga, 1 or 2 in the Tongan or Samoan Groups, 
2 in Norfolk Island, and 1 from New Zealand. 
—) 
1. M. Sinelairii/ sin Bonplandia, x (1862) 295.—A very handsome 
round-headed small tree 8-25 ft. high; trunk 6-18in. diam.; branches 
stout, brittle. Leaves very large, crowded towards the ends of the 
branches; petiole stout, 4-15 in. long; blade 10-20in. long or more, 
oblong-obovate or oblong, obtuse, slightly cordate at the base, very 
coriaceous, smooth and shining, strongly veined; margins entire, slightly 
undulate, bordered with a stout vein. Panicles stout, erect, terminal, 
6-18 in. long; branches jointed on the rhachis. Male flowers sessile in 
clusters of 4-8, with a broad bract at the base of each cluster. Calyx-limb 
obsolete. Petals 4, ovate-oblong. Stamens 4; filaments slender, exserted. 
Female flowers irregularly crowded, with a bract at the base of each. 
Calyx as in the males. Petals 4-5, ovate-triangular. Abortive stamens 
present. Styles 4-5, free to the base. Fruit }-4in. long, broadly oblong, 
succulent, black and shining, 4-5-celled. Seeds solitary in each cell, com- 
pressed, bony.—Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 104; 7. Kirk Forest Fl. 
(1889) t. 121; Students’ Fl. (1899) 220; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 
232; Lil. N.Z. Fl. i (1914) t. 73. Botryodendrum Sinelairii Hook. f. Fl. 
Nov. Zel. 1 (1853) 97. 
Nortu Isutann: Three Kings Islands, abundant, 7. F. C. ; Hen and Chickens 
(Taranga Islands), Hutton and 7’. Kirk / Reischek! T. F. C., not plentiful. Puka. 
Flowers most of the year. 
The specimens on which Sir Joseph Hooker founded the species were obtained 
from a solitary tree planted by the Maoris at Paparaumu, in Whangaruru Harbour ; 
but it is not known in an indigenous state on any part of the mainland, and must be 
considered one of the rarest species of the New Zealand flora. The Maoris state that 
it exists on the Poor Knights Islands, between Whangarei and the Bay of Islands, but 
[ have seen no specimens from thence, and it was not observed by Dr. Cockayne during 
his visit thereto. 
4. SCHEFFLERA Forst. ‘774. 
Glabrous or pilose shrubs or small trees. Leaves digitately or pin- 
nately compound ; leaflets serrulate or entire. Stipules usually present. 
Flowers polygamous or dioecious, usually arranged in a racemose manner 
on the branches of a spreading panicle, or, in species not found in New 
Zealand, sessile or stalked in clusters or umbels of various patterns. 
Calyx-limb minutely 5-toothed or almost obsolete. Petals 5-15, but 
