versatile. Ovary inferior or half-superior, 3-celled; style filiform; stigma small; ovules numerous in each cell. Capsule coriaceous, altogether enclosed in the persistent calyx-tube or protruding beyond it, 3-celled, loculicidally 3-valved or irregularly dehiscent. Seeds numerous, densely packed, linear; testa membranous.
In addition to the 11 species found in New Zealand, all but one of which are endemic, there are a few scattered through Polynesia, New Caledonia, Australia, and the Malay Archipelago, together with an aberrant species in South Africa. New Zealand is the only country which possesses climbing species.
| * Capsule coriaceous or woody, wholly enclosed in the calyx-tube, which is produced far beyond it, dehiscing irregularly or by 3 apical valves. | |
| Climbing. Leaves obtuse. Calyx glabrous. Capsule large, ½–¾ in. | 1. M. florida. |
| Erect, 30–60 ft. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, acute or acuminate. Calyx silky. Capsule ⅓ in. | 2. M. lucida. |
| A much-branched shrub. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, acute. Cymes usually on the old wood below the leaves | 3. M. Parkinsonii. |
| ** Capsule hardly coriaceous, wholly enclosed in the calyx-tube, which is produced far beyond it, dehiscing to the base. All climbers. | |
| Leaves decussate, large, 1½–3 in., acute or acuminate. Flowers large, white, terminal | 4. M. albiflora. |
| Leaves decussate, smaller, ¾–1½ in., obtuse. Flowers crimson | 5. M. diffusa. |
| Leaves distichous, subacute. Branchlets glabrescent. Flowers always lateral | 6. M. hypericifolia. |
| Leaves distichous, acuminate. Branchlets pubescent. Flowers usually terminal | 7. M. Colensoi. |
| *** Capsule exserted beyond the calyx-tube, the free portion 3-valved. | |
| Erect. Leaves decussate, glabrous, obtuse, 1–1½ in. long | 8. M. robusta. |
| Erect. Leases decussate, white with appressed tomentum beneath, 2–4 in. long | 9. M. tomentosa. |
| Erect. Leaves decussate, white with appressed tomentum beneath, ¾–2 in. long | 10. M. villosa. |
| Climbing. Leaves distichous, ⅓–½ in. long. Flowers white | 11. M. scandens. |
1. M. florida, Sm. in Trans. Linn. Soc. iii. (1797) 269.—Usually a tall woody climber, reaching the tops of lofty trees; stems long, cable-like, often 3–6 in. diam.; bark loose, separating in large flakes. Leaves 1½–3 in. long, shortly petioled, elliptic-oblong, obtuse, coriaceous, glabrous; midrib stout. Flowers orange-red, in few- or many-flowered terminal simple or branched cymes. Calyx obconic or turbinate, glabrous, produced beyond the ovary. Petals orbicular, yellowish-red. Stamens scarlet, very numerous, ¾–1 in. long. Ovary completely adnate with the base of the calyx-tube, 3-celled. Capsule deeply sunk within the persistent calyx, and with it forming a woody urceolate 5-ribbed fruit ½–¾ in. long, usually dehiscing by 3 valves within the calyx.—A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 333; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 559; Raoul, Choix, 49; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 66. t. 15; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 70; Kirk, Forest
