Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/175

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Donatia.]
SAXIFAGEÆ.
135

appressed, ⅓ in. long, subacute, shining, veinless, very thick and coriaceous, villous at the base. Flowers ⅓ in. diam., sunk amongst the uppermost leaves. Calyx-lobes 5, ovate, acute. Petals 5, quite free, ovate-oblong, obtuse, thick and fleshy. Stamens 2. Styles 2, short and thick, recurved. Capsule 1/5 in. long.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 58; Benth. Fl. Austral. ii. 450; F. Muell. Fragm. viii. 41.

North Island: Mount Holdsworth, Tararua Range, W. Townson! South Island: Not uncommon in alpine bogs throughout. Stewart Island: Petrie! Kirk! Most abundant between 3000 and 5000 ft., but descends almost to sea-level on Stewart Island. December–March.


2. QUINTINIA, A. D.C.

Shrubs or trees. Leaves alternate, coriaceous, exstipulate. Flowers small, in axillary or terminal many -flowered racemes. Calyx -tube obconic, adnate to the ovary; teeth 5, persistent. Petals 5, imbricate, deciduous. Stamens 5, filaments subulate. Ovary inferior, 3–5-celled, the free summit broadly conical, narrowed into a persistent 3–5-grooved style; stigma capitate, 3–5-lobed; ovules numerous. Capsule small, inferior or half-superior, coriaceous, obovoid, 1- celled, 3–5-valved, the valves separating up the furrows of the style. Seeds numerous, ascending; testa loose, winged.

In addition to the two following species, which are endemic in New Zealand, there are three others in Australia.

Leaves 3–6 in., linear-lanceolate to oblong 1. Q. serrata.
Leaves 3–8 in., obovate or elliptic-oblong 2. Q. acutifolia.


1. Q. serrata, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 515.—A small tree 15–30 ft. high; branchlets, leaves, and racemes covered with minute lepidote scales, viscid when young. Leaves coriaceous, yellow-brown or reddish-brown when dry, 2–6 in. long, linear-lanceolate or linearoblong or oblong, shortly petiolate, remotely and irregularly sinuate-serrate, acute or subacute, margins undulate. Racemes 2–4 in. long, erect, strict, axillary, many-flowered; pedicels short, 1/5 in. Flowers pale-lilac, ¼ in. diam. Capsule woody, 1/5 in. long.—Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 558; Raoul, Choix, 47; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 78; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 58; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 125'; Students Fl. 137. Q. elliptica, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 78; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 59.

North Island: Common in forests from Mongonui to Taranaki and Hawke's Bay. Sea-level to 3500 ft. Tawheowheo. October–November.

Very variable in the size and shape of the leaves. On high mountain-ranges they become shorter, broader, and more obtuse, and the plant is then probably identical with Hooker's Q. elliptica. This is said to have elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate entire and obtuse leaves, and was collected in some locality on the East Coast by Colenso.


2. Q. acutifolia, T. Kirk, Students' Fl. 137.—A small tree 20–40 ft. high, with a trunk 1–2 ft. diam. Branchlets, leaves, and racemes viscid and clothed with lepidote scales. Leaves much broader and thinner than in Q. serrata, 3–7 in. long, 1–2 in. broad,