fulvous pubescence. Leaves exstipulate, 1–6 in. long; pinnæ 4–40 pairs, sessile or shortly petiolulate, ¼–1 in. long, linear-oblong to obcordate or orbicular, rounded or retuse at the tip. Racemes 2–8-flowered, pendulous. Flowers large, golden-yellow, 1–2 in. long. Calyx gibbous, hemispherical, mouth oblique. Standard hardly reflexed, broadly obovate, obtuse; keel and wings oblong. Pod 2–8 in. long, moniliform, 4-angled, and with 4 narrow longitudinal wings; valves hardly dehiscent. Seeds 3–8, oblong.—Forst. Prodr. n. 183; Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 53; Kirk, Students' Fl. 122.
Var. grandiflora, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 53.—Leaflets 10–25 pairs, longer and narrower, linear-oblong. Flowers larger, 2 in. long. Standard a fourth shorter than the wings, obviously reflexed.—Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 50. S. tetra ptera, Bot. Mag. t. 167. Edwardsia grandiflora, Salisb. in Trans. Linn. Soc. ix. (1808) 299; A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 344; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 571; Hook.f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 52.
Var. microphylla, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 53.—Leaflets 25–40 pairs, small, oblong or obovate to orbicular. Flowers 1–1½ in. Standard narrower, as long as the wings or nearly so, hardly reflexed.—Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 51. S. microphylla, Ait. Hort. Kew. ii. 43; Bot. Mag. t. 1442. S. Chathamica, Cockayne in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxiv. (1902) 319 (name only). Edwardsia microphylla, Salisb. in Trans. Linn. Soc. ix. (1808) 299; A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 344; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 570. E. Macnabiana, Bot. Mag. t. 3735. E. grandiflora var. microphylla. Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 52.
Var. prostrata, Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 52.—Stems prostrate. Leaflets 2–4 pairs. Flowers small, solitary or in pairs. Standard hardly shorter than the wings. Pods small, downy, barely winged; seeds 1–3.—S. prostrata, Buch. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 395, t. 36.
North and South Islands, Chatham Islands: Var. microphylla: Abundant from the North Cape to Southland. Var. grandiflora: From the East Cape to Wellington, and reported from the South Island, but I have seen no specimens from thence. Var. prostrata: Mountains of Marlborough and Canterbury. Sea-level to 2500 ft. Kowhai. August–October. Also found in Lord Howe Island, Easter Island, Juan Fernandez, and Chili.
The three varieties described above have a very distinct appearance, and many botanists will prefer to treat them as separate species. The timber is hard, strong, and durable, but can rarely be obtained of sufficient size for economic purposes.
Order XXIII. ROSACEÆ.
Herbs, shrubs, or trees. Leaves simple or compound, alternate or rarely opposite, stipulate. Flowers usually regular and hermaphrodite, sometimes unisexual. Calyx with the tube free or adnate to the ovary, limb 4–5-lobed, lobes imbricate or valvate. Petals 4–5, rarely wanting, free, inserted on the calyx at the base of the lobes, imbricate. Stamens many, rarely few, inserted on the calyx just within the petals; filaments subulate, often incurved in bud; anthers small, didymous. Ovary of 1 or more free or coherent 1-celled carpels, sometimes adnate to the calyx-tube; styles free or connate; ovules 1 or 2 to each carpel, anatropous. Fruit very various, superior, or more or less inferior and combined
