Manual of the New Zealand Flora.
Order XXVIII. MyrtaceÆ
Order XXVIII. MyrtaceÆ.
Trees or shrubs, sometimes climbing. Leaves opposite, more rarely alternate or whorled, simple and entire, usually dotted with pellucid oil-glands and with a vein running parallel to the margin. Stipules generally absent. Flowers regular, usually hermaphrodite, solitary and axillary, or in axillary or terminal cymes panicles or racemes. Calyx-tube adnate to the ovary up to the insertion of the stamens, limb 4–5 or many-cleft or -partite, persistent or deciduous, imbricate or valvate, sometimes entire or closed in bud. Petals as many as the calyx-lobes, rarely wanting, inserted on a disc lining the calyx-tube. Stamens usually numerous, inserted on the disc with the petals; filaments free or connate at the base or united into separate bundles; anthers small, roundish. Ovary inferior or semi-inferior, crowned by a fleshy disc, sometimes 1-celled with 1 or few ovules, more often 2- to many-celled with numerous ovules; style simple; stigma capitate. Fruit either crowned by the persistent calyx-limb or marked by its scar when deciduous, usually a capsule loculicidally dehiscing into as many valves as cells, or a 1- to many-seeded berry, more rarely dry and indehiscent. Seeds angular or compressed or cylindrical; albumen usually wanting.
A very large and distinct order, readily recognised by the opposite exstipulate entire leaves, furnished with a marginal vein, and filled with transparent oil-glands. The species are mainly tropical or subtropical; most abundant in South America and Australia, much less common in Asia and Africa; more frequent in the south temperate zone than in the north, where they are decidedly rare. Genera about 80; species probably not exceeding 1800. The order includes many plants of economic importance. Some produce valuable spices, as cloves, allspice; or edible fruits, as the guava. the rose-apple, brazil-nuts, &c.; others yield aromatic essential oils, as eucalyptus, cajeput, &c. The bark of most of the species is more or less astringent. Some of the species of Eucalyptus attain a height of over 400 ft., being probably the tallest trees in the world. Of the four New Zealand genera, Leptospermum extends through Australia as far as the Malay Archipelago; Metrosideros occurs in the Pacific and Malayan Islands, Australia, and South Africa; Eugenia is mainly tropical; and Myrtus mostly American.
* Fruit capsular. Leaves small, alternate. Flowers solitary or fascicled 1. Leptospermum Leaves larger, opposite. Flowers usually handsome, cymose 2. Metrosideros. ** Fruit a berry. Flowers usually solitary. Embryo curved, with a long radicle 3. Myrtus. Flowers cymose. Embryo thick and fleshy, radicle short 4. Eugenia.
1. Leptospermum, Forst.
Shrubs or small trees, glabrous or silky-pubescent. Leaves small, alternate, entire. Flowers solitary or 2–3 together, axillary or at the ends of the branchlets, often polygamous. Calyx-tube campanulate or turbinate, adnate to the ovary below; lobes 5. Petals 5, spreading. Stamens numerous, free, in a single series; anthers versatile. Ovary inferior or half-superior, enclosed in the calyx-tube, 5- or more-celled, rarely 3–4-celled; style filiform; stigma capitate or peltate. Capsule woody or coriaceous, exceeding the calyx-tube or altogether included in it, opening loculicidally at the top. Seeds numerous in each cell, but most of them sterile, pendulous, linear or angular.
A genus of about 28 species, almost wholly Australian; a few only in New Zealand, New Caledonia, and the Malay Archipelago. One of the New Zealand species is also found in Australia, the remaining two are endemic.
Leaves pungent. Flowers ⅓–½ in. diam., solitary. Calyxlobes deciduous. Capsule half-exserted 1. L. scoparium. Leaves not pungent. Flowers ⅕ in. diam., usually fascicled. Calyx-lobes persistent. Capsule included in the calyx-tube 2. L. ericoides. Leaves not pungent, white with silky hairs. Flowers ¼ in. diam. Calyx-lobes persistent. Capsule deeply sunk within the calyx-tube 3. L. Sinclairii.
2. Metrosideros, Banks.
Erect or climbing trees or shrubs. Leaves opposite, sometimes distichous, coriaceous. Flowers often handsome, white or red or crimson, usually disposed in terminal cymes or racemes. Calyx-tube adnate to the base of the ovary, campanulate, turbinate or urceolate; lobes 5, imbricate. Petals 5, spreading. Stamens very numerous, much longer than the petals; filaments filiform; anthers 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. Leaves 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.
3. Myrtus, Linn.
Shrubs or rarely trees, glabrous or pubescent or tomentose. Leaves opposite, often coriaceous, pellucid-dotted. Flowers axillary, solitary or in few-flowered cymes. Calyx-tube subglobose or turbinate; lobes 4–5, usually persistent. Petals 4–5, spreading. Stamens very numerous, in many series, free, longer than the petals. Ovary inferior, completely or imperfectly 2–3-celled; ovules numerous in each cell. Fruit a globose or ovoid berry, crowned with the persistent calyx-limb. Seeds few or many, reniform or almost globose; testa crustaceous or bony. Embryo terete, curved or annular; cotyledons small; radicle long.
Species about 100, most of them natives of South America, a few extending to Mexico and the West Indies. There are also 9 or 10 Australian species, and 1 (the common myrtle) widely spread over southern Europe and western Asia. The 4 New Zealand species are all endemic.
Leaves 1–2 in. long, tumid between the veins 1. M. bullata. Leaves ⅔–1 in. long, flat 2. M. Ralphii. Leaves ¼–½ in., obcordate. Calyx 4-lobed 3. M. obcordata. Leaves ¼–½ in., obovate. Calyx 5-lobed 4. M. pedunculata.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: From Hokianga and the Bay of Islands southwards, but often local. Sea-level to 2000 ft. Rohutu. December–January.
Closely allied to M. obcordata, but easily recognised by the glabrous branchlets, obovate leaves rounded at the tip, and 5-lobed calyx.
4. Eugenia, Linn.
Shrubs or trees, glabrous or rarely tomentose or villous. Leaves opposite, penniveined. Flowers solitary and axillary, or in terminal or lateral cymes or panicles. Calyx-tube globose to narrow-turbinate; lobes 4, rarely 5. Petals the same number as the calyx-lobes. Stamens numerous, in many series. Ovary 2- or rarely 3-celled; style filiform; stigma small; ovules numerous in each cell. Fruit a berry, rarely dry and fibrous, crowned by the persistent calyx-limb. Seeds solitary or few, globose or variously compressed; testa membranous or cartilaginous. Embryo thick and fleshy; radicle short; cotyledons thick, more or less united or distinct.
An immense genus of more than 700 species, spread over the tropical and subtropical regions of both hemispheres. There is little to separa e it from Myrtus except the thick and fleshy embryo with a short radicle. The single New Zealand species is endemic.
1. | E. maire, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 564.—A small tree 20–50 ft. high, perfectly glabrous in all its parts; trunk 1–2 ft. diam., with white bark; branchlets slender, 4-angled. Leaves opposite, 1–2 in. long, oblong-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate to elliptic-oblong, acute or acuminate, rather membranous, narrowed into short slender petioles. Flowers ½ in. diam., sometimes almost unisexual, white, in terminal many-flowered corymbose panicles 1½–3 in. broad; pedicels slender, glabrous. Calyx-tube broadly obconic; lobes very short, broad, deciduous. Petals orbicular, falling away early. Stamens slender, ½–⅔ in. long. Ovary wholly adnate to the base of the calyx-tube, 2-celled; ovules numerous. Berry ½ in. long, ovoid, red, crowned by the persistent calyx-limb, 1-celled. Seed solitary, large; testa hard, coriaceous.— Raoul, Choix. 49; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel i. 71; Handb, N.Z. Fl. 74; Kirk, Forest Fl t. 122; Students' Fl 165. North Island: Swampy forests from the North Cape southwards, abundant. South Island: Queen Charlotte Sound and Pelorus Valley, J. Rutland. Sea-level to 1500 ft. Maire-tawake. March–May. Wood hard, dense, and durable; valuable for cabinet-work, turnery, &c. |