Evergreen shrubs, usually of small size; branchlets slender. Leaves alternate, petioled, entire or toothed, very variable in shape, coriaceous or almost membranous; stipules wanting. Flowers axillary, solitary or fascicled, very sweet-scented; pedicels bracteolate at the base. Calyx-tube ovoid; limb deeply 4–5-lobed, deciduous. Corolla tubular or funnel-shaped; tube long, equal at the base; limb of 4–5 spreading lobes; margin of lobes inflexed, toothed or lobulate. Stamens 4–5, inserted near the mouth of the corolla; filaments short; anthers oblong. Ovary 2-celled; style filiform; stigma clavate; ovules numerous in each cell, in a double row on axile placentas. Berry ovoid or oblong, 2-celled, crimson. Seeds several in each cell, angular; testa bony.
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A. macrophylla,
A. Cunn. Precur. n. 494.—A perfectly glabrous much-branched shrub 4–8 ft. high. Leaves 3–7 in. long, obovate or obovate-lanceolate to linear-oblong, obtuse or subacute, narrowed into a short stout petiole, remotely sinuate-dentate or nearly entire, rather coriaceous. Flowers solitary or in fascicles of 2–4, large, 1–1½ in. long, bright-crimson. Calyx-lobes lanceolate, acute. Corolla-lobes 5, rarely 4, margins fimbriate or toothed. Berry oblong, crimson, ⅓–½ in. long.—
Raoul, Choix, 46;
Hook. f.
Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 102, t. 23;
Handb. N.Z. Fl. 109;
Kirk, Students' Fl. 227.
North Island: Abundant in woods from the North Cape to the East Cape, rare and local further south.
South Island: Apparently very rare. Marlborough,
J. Rutland! Collingwood,
Dall! Kelly's Creek, Westland,
Cockayne! Sea-level to 3200 ft. September–November.
A very beautiful and exceedingly fragrant plant, well worthy of general cultivation. It is easily distinguished from all the other species by the large flowers.
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A. quercifolia,
A. Cunn. Precur. n. 493.—A small slender sparingly branched shrub 1–5 ft. high. Leaves excessively variable in size and shape, 1–5 in. long, ovate-oblong, elliptic-oblong, obovate-lanceolate, or linear-oblong, obtuse or acute, narrowed into
a short slender petiole, entire or sinuate-dentate or deeply sinuate-lobed, almost membranous, sometimes glaucous below. Flowers solitary or in fascicles of 2–5, ½–¾ in. long, very slender. Calyx -lobes triangular, acute. Corolla with a crimson tube and 4–5 greenish or reddish-green acute lobes. Berry ⅓–½ in. diam., broadly oblong,
red.—Raoul, Choix, 46;
Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 102;
Handb. N.Z. Fl. 109;
Kirk, Students' Fl. 227. A. ilex,
A. Cunn. Precur. n. 492. A, pusilla,
Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvii. (1885) 241.
North Island: From Mongonui and Kaitaia southwards, but often local.
South Island: Marlborough—Rai Valley,
Rutland; Pelorus Sound,
MacMahon; Mount Stokes,
Kirk. Sea-level to
2500 ft. September–November.
A very variable plant, which in some of its forms comes very near to both
A. Banksii and
A. linariifolia. Mr. Colenso's
A. pusilla only differs in its rather smaller size.
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A. Banksii,
A. Cunn. Precur. n. 489.—A small slender shrub 1–4 ft. high; branches spreading, younger ones pubescent. Leaves ½–2 in. long, very variable in shape, broadly ovate or orbicular to obovate-oblong or obcuneate, narrowed into a rather long petiole, entire or coarsely toothed or lobed, especially towards the upper part of the leaf. Flowers solitary or 2–3 together, ⅓–½ in. long, greenish-yellow, rarely reddish. Berry ⅓ in. diam., globose; seeds few, 4–8.—
Raoul, Choix, 46;
Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 102, t. 24;
Handb. N.Z. Fl. 110;
Kirk, Students' Fl. 227. A. atriplicifolia and A. palæiformis,
A. Cunn. Precur. n. 491, 490.
North Island: From Mongonui and Kaitaia southwards to the Auckland Isthmus, but often rare and local. September–November.
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A. linariifolia,
A. Cunn. Precur. n. 487.—An erect much-branched shrub 1–4 ft. high, with slender pubescent branches. Leaves numerous, crowded, ½–3 in. long, 1/16;-½ in. wide, linear to linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, acute or subacute, gradually narrowed into a short petiole, quite entire or sinuate-toothed or lobed, rather membranous. Flowers solitary or in fascicles of 2–5, ½–⅔ in. long, greenish-yellow, rarely reddish. Corolla-lobes 4, toothed and fimbriate. Berry broadly ovoid or turbinate; seeds
few.—Raoul, Choix, 46;
Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 103, t. 25;
Handb. N.Z. Fl. 110;
Kirk, Students' Fl. 227. A. ligustrifolia,
A. Cunn. Precur. n. 488. A. Hookeria,
Col. Excur. North Is. 84.
North Island: From Mongonui and Kaitaia southwards to the Manukau Harbour, not uncommon. September–November.
A very variable plant. Small forms, with narrow-linear leaves, have much of the habit and appearance of
Pittosporum reflexum; larger states
(A. ligustrifolia, A. Cunn.), with lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate leaves, approach
A. quercifolia very closely.
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