3. V. salicornioides, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 485.—A small tufted perfectly glabrous much-branched leafless species 2–4 in. high; branches opposite, rather succulent, terete, jointed; joints 110–13 in. long, 125 in. broad, terete or obscurely flattened, expanded at the tip. Flowers very minute, diœcious, 4–8 together at the nodes, forming a ring round the branch, partly concealed by the expanded tip of the joints. Male flowers much the smallest; perianth-segments 3, triangular, each bearing a sessile anther on its inner face. Female flowers more numerous; ovary ovoid, crowned by 3 very minute perianth-lobes. Fruit 120 in. long, ellipsoid, tipped by the persistent perianth-segments.—Raoul, Choix, 42; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 101; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 108.
North and South Islands: From Mongonui and Kaitaia southwards to Dunedin, but often local. Sea-level to 1500 ft.
Usually parasitic on Leptospermum, but also seen on Gaultheria and Dracophyllum.
Order LXXIII. SANTALACEÆ.
Trees or shrubs or herbs, often parasitic on the roots of other plants. Leaves alternate or opposite, simple and entire, sometimes reduced to minute scales or altogether wanting; stipules absent. Flowers regular, hermaphrodite or unisexual, usually small and greenish, solitary or in axillary or terminal cymes or spikes. Perianth superior or inferior, 3–6-lobed or -partite; lobes valvate,. often hairy behind the anthers. Stamens 3–6, inserted on the perianth-lobes and opposite to them; anthers 2-celled. Ovary inferior, rarely superior, 1-celled; style short; stigma capitate or 3–4-lobed; ovules 2–3, pendulous from a central column. Fruit an indehiscent nut or drupe. Seed solitary, globose or ovoid; albumen copious, fleshy; embryo usually small, terete, radicle superior.
An order of moderate size, widely dispersed in both temperate and tropical regious. Genera 28; species not much exceeding 200. The only species of much economic value is Santalum album, which yields the well-known sandalwood. Both the New Zealand genera are found in Australia, and Exocarpus extends also to the Pacific islands, Malay Archipelago, and Madagascar.
| Leafy. Perianth superior. Flowers in axillary cymes | 1. Fusanus. |
| Leafless. Perianth inferior. Flowers in axillary spikes | 2. Exocarpus. |
1. FUSANUS, R. Br.
Glabrous trees or shrubs. Leaves opposite or alternate. Flowers hermaphrodite or unisexual by abortion, in axillary or terminal racemes or fascicles. Perianth-tube turbinate, adnate to the ovary and produced above it into a projecting rim; segments 4–6, each furnished with a tuft of hairs at the base. Stamens 4–6, affixed to the base of the perianth-segments and shorter than them; anthers ovate, dehiscing longitudinally. Disc lining the projecting
