Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/477

Olea.]

1. O. apetala, ''Vahl Symb. Bot.'' iii. 3.—A much-branched diœcious shrub or small tree 8–20 ft. high, everywhere perfectly glabrous; bark greyish-brown, thick and furrowed; branches spreading, often tortuous. Leaves very variable, in young plants larger and broader, 3–5 in. long, 2–3 in. broad, broadly oblong or ovate, subacute; of adult trees 1½–3 in. long, 1–1½ in. broad, elliptic-oblong or elliptic-ovate, acute or acuminate, shortly petiolate, coriaceous, glossy, both surfaces slightly rough to the touch, quite entire, midrib prominent. Racemes axillary or on the branches below the leaves, glabrous, 1–1½ in. long, 10–18-flowered; pedicels slender. Flowers minute, $1⁄10$ in. diam., females alone seen. Calyx-lobes unequal. Petals wanting. Ovary 2-celled; stigma large, 2-lobed; lobes spreading. Drupe oblong, ⅓ in. long, red.—''Endl. Prodr. Fl. Ins. Norf. 56; Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. iii. 165; Forest Fl.'' t. 27, 28.

2. O. Cunninghamii, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 175.—A lofty diœcious forest-tree 30–60 or even 70 ft. high, with a trunk 2–5 ft. diam.; young branchlets pubescent. Leaves coriaceous, very variable; of young plants long and narrow, 6–10 in. long, ⅓–⅔ in. broad, narrow linear, acute; of adult trees 3–6 in. long, ¾–1¾ in. broad, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, obtuse or subacute, shortly petiolate, glabrous, slightly rough on both surfaces; veins impressed above, somewhat obscure, midrib prominent beneath. Racemes ½–1 in. long, stout, densely pubescent, 8–18-flowered; pedicels short, stout; bracts ovate, concave, deciduous. Flowers minute, apetalous. Calyx unequally 4-lobed. Male flowers with 2 large exserted anthers and an abortive ovary;