A 
856 RUBIACEAE. | Coprosma, 
account I have adhered to the plan adopted in my monograph of the New Zealand 
species, published in the “‘ Transactions of the New Zealand Institute” (vol. xix 
(1887) 218 to 252), to which reference should be made for many details which cannot 
be given. here. | 
In attempting to determine the species of Coprosma really good and well-selected 
specimens showing both foliage and flowers are indispensable. Both sexes should be 
collected; and, as important characters are often afforded by the fruit, it should be 
obtained also, if possible from the same plant from which the female flowers were taken, 
notes being preserved of the shape, size, colour, and other characters lost in drying, 
Notes should also be kept of the habit and mode of growth, some of the closely allied 
species being easily distinguished by that alone. As the characters on which the species 
are founded are to a great extent comparative, the student must not expect to make 
much progress until he has collected a considerable number of the species and carefully 
compared one with another. The small-leaved species inclided in section B are 
particularly difficult to identify until most of them have been studied in detail. 
. In many of the small-leaved species the flowers are closely invested by one or more 
series of connate bracts, each series being composed of a pair of minute depauperated 
leaves and their stipules. The upper series usually forms an unequally 4-toothed cup- 
shaped involucel, and is easily mistaken for a calyx, especially in the male flowers, 
where the true calyx is often entirely wanting. 
It is perhaps necessary to state that, with one or two exceptions, I have examined 
authentic specimens in Mr. Colenso’s herbarium of the 16 species described by him in 
various volumes of the ‘“‘ Transactions of the New Zealand Institute.” They are for 
the most part absolutely identical with previously described species, and the remainder 
differ so very slightly that they cannot be separated even as varieties. 
“4. Erect shrubs or trees. Leaves large, over 1 in. in length. Flowers fascicled on lateral 
peduncles ; fascicles usually many-flowered. 
* Peduncles 1-3 in. long (short in C. macrocarpa), trichotomously divided ; fascicles 
dense. | | 
Leaves 3-7 in. long, coriaceous. Peduncles-l-l}in. Fruit very 
large, 3-3 in. long . BS re r. .. IL. C. macrocarpa, * 
Leaves 4-9in., membranous. Peduncles 1-3in. Fruit }in. .. 2. C. grandifolia, * 
Leaves 2-5 in., coriaceous. Peduncles 1-2in. Fruit }in. .. 3. C. lucida. : 
** Peduncles short, seldom over lin.  Fascicles dense, many-flowered, rarely 
few-flowered. 
Subalpine dwarf shrub. Leaves very coriaceous, serrulate. 
Fascicles small, 2—5-flowered Ae oe ok .. A GC. serrelata, 
Maritime shrub. Branchlets glabrous or nearly so. Leaves 
fleshy, bright-green; margins recurved .. ns .. & C. Baueri. 
Tree 15-40 ft. Branchlets coarsely pubescent. Leaves 1}-3in., 
oblong or obovate * os £. a. .. 6. C. chathamiea, 
Maritime shrub. Branchlets finely pubescent. Leaves 1-2 in., 
_ subcoriaceous, oblong, obtuse ; margins flat 5 .. 7 Cy. petiolata, 
Leaves 2-5 in., elliptic-oblong, acute, firm, coriaceous. Drupe ; 
orange aS he Ww an até .. 8. C. robusta. 
Leaves 11-2in., linear or lanceolate, coriaceous. Drupe pale x 
, and translucent s x * oe .. 9. CO. Cunninghamii. - 
Leaves 14-3in., ovate-lanceolate to elliptic-ovate, acuminate, 
membranous, glabrous. Inflorescence lax .. fe .. 10. C. acutifohea. 
Leaves 14-4 in., ovate-lanceolate to ovate, acuminate, membran- i, 
ous; petioles and midribs hairy. Inflorescence dense .. ll. C. tenwifolia. 
‘Tree 15-30 ft. Leaves ovate- or orbicular-spathulate, narrowed 
into winged petioles aa ) ¥ Bs .. 12. C. arborea. 
B. Erect or rarely prostrate shrubs. Leaves small, less than lin. Flowers solitary or in 
few-flowered fascicles on minute arrested branchlets, which are often so much reduced 
that the flowers appear to be axillary. 
* Twigs glabrate or puberulous. Leaves spathulate. Drupe globose, black. 
Leaves suddenly contracted into a narrow winged petiole 1 
than the blade .. = i “f ‘i on ; : he 2g, 6 spathulata. 
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