Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/165

Rubus.]

1. R. australis, Forst. Prodr. 224.—A tall climber, reaching the tops of the highest trees; stems stout, woody at the base; branches slender, drooping, armed with scattered recurved prickles. Leaves 3–5-foliolate or rarely pinnate with 2 pairs of leaflets and a terminal one; leaflets coriaceous, glabrous, very variable in size and shape, 2–5 in. long, ovate-oblong or ovate-lanceolate to linear-oblong or almost linear, acute or acuminate, truncate or cordate at the base, sharply serrate; petioles and midribs armed with recurved prickles. Panicles large, much branched, 6–24 in. long, leafy towards the base; pedicels short, glandular or pubescent. Flowers white, ⅓–½ in. diam., dioecious; males larger and more conspicuous than the females. Petals broadly ovate or oblong. Fruit ¼ in. diam., reddish-orange.—''A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 340; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 567; Raoul, Choix, 49; Kirk, Students' Fl.'' 125. R. australis var. glaber, ''Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 53, t. 14; Handb. N.Z. Fl.'' 54.

2. R. cissoides, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 569.—A scrambling or climbing shrub; branchlets slender, unarmed, usually much and closely interlaced, forming a dense bush. Leaves 3–5-foliolate; leaflets 2–5 in. long, narrow-ovate to lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, acuminate, rounded or cuneate at the base, sharply and irregularly serrate or lobed; petioles varying much in length, furnished with fewer and softer prickles than in R. australis. Panicles 2–6 in. long, often reduced to racemes; pedicels pubescent or glabrate. Flowers yellowish-white, ⅓ in. diam., dioecious. Calyx-lobes broadly ovate, tomentose. Petals linear-oblong. Fruit orange-red, much as in R. australis.—Raoul, Choix, 49; Kirk, Students' Handb. 126. R. australis var. cissoides, ''Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 53; Handb. N.Z. Fl.'' 54.

3. R. schmidelioides, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 568.—A scrambling or climbing shrub; branchlets usually unarmed, often intertwined, forming a dense bush; young shoots pubescent or tomentose. Leaves 3–5-foliolate; leaflets 2–4 in. long, orbicular-ovate or ovate-oblong to ovate-lanceolate, coriaceous, acute, rounded or cordate at