branches, 1–3 in. long, equalling the leaves or only slightly longer than them, dense-flowered; rhachis, pedicels, and bracts pubescent; pedicels short, rather stout. Flowers small, ⅙ in. diam., white with a lilac tinge. Calyx short and broad, deeply 4-partite; segments broadly oblong, obtuse, ciliate. Corolla-tube funnel-shaped, about half as long again as the calyx, seldom more; limb 4-lobed; lobes about as long as the tube, broadly oblong or almost orbicular, obtuse. Capsule about ⅙ in. long, ovate, acute, about twice as long as the calyx.—A. Cunn. Precur. n. 378; Raoul, Choix, 43; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 192, and Handb. N.Z. Fl. 207 (in part only); Armstr. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiii. (1881) 351; Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxviii. (1896) 526. V. stenophylla, Steud. Nom. Bot. ed. ii. 760. V. arborea, Buch. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. vi. (1874) 242.
North Island: Auckland—Whangarei Heads and Taranga Islands, T.F.C.; Great Barrier Island, Kirk! East Cape district, Kirk. Hawke's Bay, Colenso! Wellington—Cape Terawhiti and hills near Wellington, Buchanan! Kirk! South Island: Marlborough—Queen Charlotte Sound, Banks and Solander. December–February. Sea-level to 2000 ft.
There is some little doubt as to the plant that Vahl described as V. parvifloras but it is probably identical with the V. floribunda of Banks and Solander's manuscripts and the V. arborea of Buchanan. It is chiefly characterized by its large size—sometimes considerably over 25 ft.—small linear-lanceolate leaves, small dense racemes usually not much exceeding the leaves, and short and broad corolla-tube. In the Flora and in the Handbook it is united with V. angustifolia, A. Rich, which I take to be quite distinct.
17. V. leiophylla, Cheesem. n. sp.—A large spreading perfectly glabrous shrub 4–12 ft. high; branches terete. Leaves spreading, sessile or very shortly petiolate, ¾–1¼ in. long, ⅕–⅓ in. broad, linear-oblong or narrow oblong-lanceolate, obtuse or acute, flat, smooth, coriaceous, glabrous or the midrib obscurely puberulous above. Racemes towards the tips of the branches, much longer than the leaves, 2–4 in long, slender; rhachis, pedicels, and bracts puberulous; pedicels longer than the calyx. Flowers rather densely placed, ⅙–⅕ in. diam. by ¼ in. long or more. Calyx small, 4-partite; segments oblong, obtuse. Corolla-tube about twice as long as the calyx; limb equalling or shorter than the tube, 4-lobed; lobes oblong, obtuse, the anterior one rather narrower. Capsule ⅕ in. long, broadly oblong, subacute, compressed, glabrous, nearly three times as long as the calyx.—V. parviflora var. phillyreæfolia, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 192.
South Island: Apparently not uncommon throughout, from Nelson to Otago. Sea-level to 3000 ft. December–February.
This appears to me to be a perfectly distinct species, easily distinguished from V. parviflora, under which it was placed by Hooker, by the flat linear-oblong usually obtuse leaves and much larger flowers and capsules. I suspect that Kirk's V. parviflora var. strictissima, of which I have only seen two im-
