Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/87

Melicytus.] again as the calyx. Style short, stout; stigma broad, discoid, 3–5-lobed. Berry globose, ¼ in. diam.; seeds 4–6.—Raoul, Choix de Plantes, 48; ''Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 18; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 17; Kirk, Students' Fl.'' 42.

3. M. lanceolatus, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 18, t. 8.—A slender glabrous shrub 6–15 ft. high, with brownish bark; branches succulent, brittle. Leaves 3–6in. long, lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, acuminate, finely and sharply serrate, membranous; petioles short. Flowers small, in 2–5-flowered fascicles; pedicels short, slender, decurved, with 2 bracts above the middle. Calyx-lobes oblong, obtuse or subacute. Petals erect, recurved at the tip. Connective of the anthers produced into a long subulate point. Style long; stigmas 3, minute. Berry globose, ¼ in. diam., blue-black when fully ripe; seeds 6–12, angled, minutely tubercled.—''Handb. N.Z. Fl. 17; Kirk, Students' Fl.'' 43.

4. M. micranthus, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 18.—A shrub or small tree 5–15 ft. in height, very variable in habit, sometimes a much-branched bush with tortuous and interlaced rigid branches, at other times a small tree with a compact head and slender trunk 2–5 in. diam.; branchlets pubescent at the tips. Leaves alternate or fascicled on short lateral branchlets, coriaceous, small, $1⁄5$–1 in. long, oblong-obovate or obovate or orbicular-obovate, obtuse, sinuate or toothed, rarely lobed; petioles short, puberulous. Flowers minute, axillary, solitary or 2–3 together; pedicels longer or shorter than the petioles, pubescent. Male flowers: Calyx-lobes short, rounded, often ciliate. Petals twice as long as the calyx, broadly oblong, obtuse. Anthers sessile, very broad, rounded, obtuse, connective flat. Females: Calyx and petals of the males. Abortive anthers present. Ovary ovoid; style short, thick; stigma large, discoid, with 3–5 fleshy lobes. Berry oval or subglobose, $1⁄8$–$1⁄4$ in. diam., purple or purple-black. Seeds 1–4, smooth or angled.—''Handb. N.Z. Fl. 17; Kirk, Students' Fl.'' 43. Elæodendron micranthum, ''Hook. f. in Lond. Journ. Bot.'' iii. 228, t. 8.