separated by the nearly glabrous branchlets and oblong yellow fruit. The leaves are often blotched, and are usually more or less deciduous, so that the plant is often quite bare in spring.
15. C. areolata, Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xviii. (1886) 315.—An erect closely branched shrub or small tree 6–15 ft. high; branches slender, fastigiate, ultimate pubescent or villous with soft greyish hairs. Leaves ⅓–⅔ in. long, orbicular-spathulate to ovateor elliptic-spathulate, acute or apiculate, abruptly narrowed into short hairy petioles, thin and membranous, flat, glabrous or nearly so above, usually pubescent on the veins beneath; veins forming large areoles. Flowers axillary, solitary or in 2–4-flowered fascicles. Male flowers: True calyx wanting, but one or two calycine involucels closely invest the base of the corolla. Corolla broadly campanulate, 18 in. long, deeply 4–5-lobed. Females: Solitary or 2 together, 110 in. long. Calyx truncate or obscurely 4-toothed. Corolla narrow-funnel-shaped, shortly 4-lobed. Drupe globose, 16 in. diam., black or nearly so when fully ripe.—Kirk, Students' Fl. 235. C. multiflora, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxi. (1889) 86.
North and South Islands: Not uncommon in lowland forests throughout. Sea-level to 1500 ft. September–October.
The fastigiate habit makes this species easy of recognition. Its nearest ally is C. tenuicaulis, which is separated by its smaller size, spreading branches, dark-coloured bark, more glabrous leaves and branchlets, and smaller and more coriaceous leaves.
16. C. tenuicaulis, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 106.—A much-branched shrub 4–8 ft. high; bark purplish-brown; branches slender, spreading, often interlaced, young ones finely puberulous. Leaves ¼–½ in. long, rarely more, orbicular- or ovate-spathulate, rounded at the apex, obtuse or subacute, abruptly narrowed into a short flat petiole, somewhat coriaceous, flat, glabrous on both surfaces; veins reticulated in large areoles. Flowers axillary, solitary or in 2–3-flowered fascicles, involucellate. Males: Calyx wanting. Corolla campanulate, 18–16 in. long, 4–5-lobed. Females smaller and shorter. Calyx-limb truncate. Corolla tubular, 3–5-lobed. Drupe globose or depressed, 18 in. diam., shining-black.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 115; Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xix. (1887) 239; Kirk, Students' Fl. 236.
Var. major, Cheesem.—Leaves much larger and more membranous, ¾–1¼ in. long; blade orbicular, suddenly narrowed into a long flat petiole often equalling the blade. Flowers and fruit apparently as in the type. Perhaps a distinct species.
North Island: Abundant in marshy forests or open turfy swamps from the North Cape to Hawke's Bay and Taranaki. Var. major: Lower Waikato, H. Carse! Sea-level to 1000 ft. September–October.
17. C. rhamnoides, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 474.—A small densely branched shrub 2–6 ft. high; bark reddish-brown, uneven; branches numerous, spreading, often rigid and interlaced when
