Manual of the New Zealand Flora.

Order LXX. ProteaceÆ

Order LXX. ProteaceÆ.

Shrubs or trees, rarely herbs. Leaves usually alternate, very rarely opposite or whorled, generally hard and coriaceous, entire or toothed or variously divided; stipules wanting. Flowers usually hermaphrodite, inflorescence various. Perianth inferior, regular or irregular; segments 4, valvate, at first cohering into a cylindric tube, at length separating and becoming revolute. Stamens 4, inserted on the perianth-segments and opposite to them; filaments short; anthers erect, adnate, 2-celled, introrse. Hypogynous glands 4, alternating with the stamens. Ovary superior, 1-celled, often oblique; style terminal, variously thickened and enlarged at the top; stigma terminal or lateral; ovules solitary or geminate or many. Fruit either an indehiscent nut or drupe, or a dehiscent coriaceous or woody follicle, more rarely a 2-valved capsule. Seeds exalbuminous; embryo straight, with fleshy cotyledons, radicle inferior.

A large and well-marked order, chief!y found in Australia and South Africa, but extending to the Pacific islands and tropical Asia on the one side and South America on the other; absent in Europe, North Asia, and North America. Genera about 50; species estimated at 950. Several species are cultivated for ornamental purposes, but few possess any useful properties. Of the two indigenous genera, Knightia has 2 species in New Caledonia, while Persoonia is largely developed in Australia. The meagre representation of the order in New Zealand, compared with its abundance in Australia, is a very curious and almost inexplicable feature of the flora.

Small spreading tree. Leaves entire. Fruit fleshy 1. Persoonia.
Tall fastigiate tree. Leaves serrate. Fruit a woody follicle 2. Knightia.

1. Persoonia, Smith.

Shrubs or small trees. Leaves entire, alternate or sometimes almost whorled. Flowers small, hermaphrodite, yellowish or white, solitary and axillary, or in axillary or terminal racemes. Perianth regular, constricted above the base or cylindrical; segments ultimately separating to the base or nearly so, upper portion revolute. Stamens affixed at or below the middle of the perianth-segments; filaments short; anthers usually all perfect, oblong or linear. Hypogynous scales 4, small. Ovary stipitate; style short and thick, or elongated and filiform; stigma terminal; ovules 2 or rarely 1, orthotropous, pendulous from the top of the cell. Fruit a drupe, either 1-celled and 1-seeded, or obliquely 2-celled and 2-seeded; exocarp more or less succulent; endocarp thick and hard.

Species about 60, all confined to Australia except the present one, which is endemic in the North Island of New Zealand.

2. Knightia, R. Br.

Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, coriaceous, coarsely toothed or entire. Flowers hermaphrodite, regular, arranged in axillary or terminal dense-flowered racemes; pedicels in pairs. Perianth cylindrical; the segments at first cohering by their margins, but ultimately separating and revolute to the base. Stamens affixed above the middle of the segments; filaments very short; anthers long, linear, acute. Hypogynous glands 4, distinct. Ovary sessile, 1-celled; style long, straight, linear-clavate; ovules 4. Follicles coriaceous, 1-celled, 4-seeded. Seeds winged at the top.

A small genus of 3 species, the typical one confined to New Zealand. The remaining two are natives of New Caledonia, and form the subgenus Eucarpha, characterized by the large deciduous bracts.