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Manual of the New Zealand Flora.
6. Pseudopanax, C. Koch
6. Pseudopanax, C. Koch.
Glabrous shrubs or small trees. Leaves extremely variable, simple or digitately compound, those of young plants often widely different from those of mature trees; leaflets coriaceous, entire or more or less toothed or serrate. Flowers diœcious, in racemose or paniculate umbels. Calyx-limb entire or toothed. Petals 5, valvate. Stamens 5; anthers ovate or oblong. Ovary 5-celled; styles the same number, very short, connate into a short cone or column. Fruit fleshy, subglobose, ribbed when dry, 5-celled; seeds 1 in each cell.
As characterized above, the genus contains 6 species, all confined to New Zealand. It is mainly distinguished from Panax by the 5-celled ovary and 5 styles, the latter being very short and connate into a minute cone or column. It would form a much more natural group if it were limited to P. crassifolium, P. ferox, and P. chathamicum, together with Panax lineare, which in several respects is closely allied to P. crassifolium, and which occasionally has a 5-celled ovary.
| Bronzy or yellow-green. Leaves 3–5-foliolate; leaflets sharply toothed, veined | 1. P. discolor. |
| Dark-green. Leaves 3–5-foliolate; leaflets entire or sinuate-serrate, veins obscure | 2. P. Lessonii. |
| Dark-green. Leaves mostly 1-foliolate, with a few 3-folio-late ones intermixed | 3. P. Gilliesii. |
| Leaves of young trees deflexed, with short distant teeth. Fruit small, ⅕ in. diam. | 4. P. crassifolium. |
| Leaves of young trees deflexed, with broad lobulate hooked teeth. Fruit large, oblong, ⅓ Jin. long | 5. P. ferox. |
| Leaves of young trees never deflexed. Fruit large, globose, ⅓ in. diam. | 6. P. chathamicum. |
| 1. | P. discolor, Cheesem. —A much-branched shrub 6–15 ft. high. Leaves bronzy or yellow-green, 3–5-foliolate, often with 1-foliolate leaves intermixed; petioles slender, 1–3 in. long; leaflets 1½–3 in., page 234obovate to obovate-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, narrowed at, the base, acute or acuminate, glossy and coriaceous, sharply serrate. Umbels terminal; male of 4–10 slender rays 2–3 in. long, bearing numerous racemose flowers on pedicels ⅛–¼ in. long; females (or hermaphrodite?) of much shorter rays ¾–2 in. long-terminating in 2–6-flowered umbellules. Flowers ⅙ in. diam. Ovary 5-celled; styles 5, connate at the base, very short, tips erect or slightly recurved. Fruit ¼ in. long, broadly oblong, 5-celled.— Panax discolor, Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. iii. (1871) 178. P. discolorum, Students' Fl. 219.
North Island: Auckland—Whangaroa North, Great Barrier Island, and Omaha, Kirk! Little Barrier Island, Kirk, Shakespear! T.F.C.; Thames Goldfields, Kirk! Adams! T.F.C. Sea-level to 2800 ft. December–January. The ovary-cells and styles are very exceptionally less than 5, and the species certainly falls into Pseudopanax as that genus is characterized in the "Genera Plantarum." Its nearest ally is P. Lessonii. |
| 2. | P. Lessonii, C. Koch in Wochenschrift, ii. (1859) 336. —A glabrous much - branched shrub or small tree 8–20 ft. high; branches robust. Leaves dark-green, 3–5-foliolate; petioles stout, 2–6 in. long, not sheathing at the base; leaflets 1–4 in., sessile, obovate- or oblong-lanceolate, acute or obtuse, entire or sinuate-serrate, smooth and shining, very thick and coriaceous; veins indistinct. Umbels terminal, compound; males with 4–8 primary rays 1–6 in. long, each ending in 4–10 secondary rays bearing-numerous racemose flowers; females with shorter and fewer rays and less numerous flowers, not so conspicuously racemose. Flowers. ⅕ in. diam. Ovary 5-celled; styles 5, very short, connate at the base, their tips at length recurved. Fruit broadly oblong, ¼ in. long, 5-celled.—Kirk, Students' Fl. 221. Panax Lessonii, D.C. Prodr. iv. 253; Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 102. Cussonia Lessonii, A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel 285, t. 32; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 511; Raoul, Choix, 46. Hedera Lessonii, A. Gray, Bot. U.S. Expl. Exped. 719.
North Island: From the Three Kings Islands and the North Cape to Poverty Bay, usually near the coast. Houmapara; Houpara. January–February. |
| 3. | P. Gilliesii, T. Kirk, Students' Fl. 221.—A shrub or small tree 10–15 ft. high; branches slender. Leaves mostly 1-foliolate, mixed with a few 3-foliolate ones; petiole slender, ½–1½ in. long; blade 1½–2½ in., variable in shape, ovate to ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, acute or acuminate, coarsely sinuate-toothed, rather coriaceous. Flowers long past in all the specimens seen, but apparently arranged in a racemose manner on numerous terminal peduncles 2–4 in. long; pedicels ½–1 in. Fruit ¼ in. long, broadly oblong, 5-celled; styles 5, very short, connate, free at the very tip.
North Island: Auckland—Whangaroa North, Buchanan! Gillies and Kirk! I have seen but few specimens of this curious plant, which may be nothing, more than a variety of P. Lessonii. page 235 |
| 4. | P. crassifolium, C. Koch in Wochenschrift, ii. (1859) 336.— A small round-headed tree 20–50 ft. high; trunk naked below, 9–18 in. diam. Leaves excessively variable, differing greatly at various stages of growth, the following being the chief forms: (1) of seedlings, rhomboid to ovate-lanceolate, cuneate at the base, coarsely toothed or lobed, membranous; (2) of young unbranched plants, deflexed, very narrow linear, 6–36 in. long, ¼–½ in. wide, remotely and acutely toothed, excessively rigid and coriaceous, dull-green above, often purplish below; (3) in a more advanced stage, during which the stem commences to branch and flowers may appear, the leaves are erect or spreading, and may be either (a) 1-foliolate, 6–12 in. long, ½–1½ in. wide, linear or linear-obovate, coarsely and acutely toothed, very coriaceous; or (b) 3–5-foliolate with sessile leaflets 6–12 in. long by ½–¾ in. wide, coarsely and remotely toothed; (4) in the mature stage the leaves are 1-foliolate, 3–8 in. long, 1–1½ in. wide, linear to linear-oblong; or linear-obovate, obtuse or subacute, narrowed into stout petioles ½–1 in. long, entire, sinuate-serrate or coarsely toothed at the tip. Umbels terminal, compound; primary rays 4–10, 2–3 in. long; secondary 4–10, ½–1 in. long; flowers racemose or umbelled; pedicels short. Ovary 5-celled or rarely 4-celled by abortion; styles the same number as the cells, connate into a cone. Fruit globose, ⅕ in. diam.—Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 38, 38A, 38b, 38c, 38d; Students' Fl. 222. Aralia crassifolia, Sol. ex A. Cunn. Precur. n. 514; Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 583, 584; Raoul, Choix, 46; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 96. Panax crassifolium, Dcne, and Planch, in Rev. Hort. (1854) 105; Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 101; Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. x. (1878) app. xxxiii. P. longissimum, Hook. f. l.c. 102. P. coriaceum, Regel in Gartenfl. (1859) 45. Hedera crassifolia, A. Gray, Bot. U.S. Expl. Exped. 719.
Var. a, unifoliolatum, Kirk, Forest Fl. 61.—Leaves of the third stage 1-foliolate. Var. b, trifoliolatum, Kirk, l.c. —Leaves of the third stage 3–5-foliolate. North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Var. a abundant from Auckland southwards; var. b from the North Cape to Hawke's Bay and Taranaki. Sea-level to 2000 ft. Horoeka; Hohoeka; Lancewood. February–April. Remarkable for its singularly protean foliage. For a detailed account reference should be made to Kirk's "Forest Flora," pp. 59 to 62; and to a paper by the same botanist in the "Transactions of the New Zealand Institute," vol. x. app. xxxi. |
| 5. | P. ferox, T. Kirk, Forest Fl. 35, t. 23, 24, 25, 26.—A small slender tree 12–20 ft. high; trunk 6–12 in. diam. Leaves very variable, but always simple; of seedlings narrow linear-lanceolate; of young unbranched plants deflexed, 12–18 in. long, ½–1 in. wide, narrow-linear, slightly enlarged at the tip, gradually narrowed into a short stout petiole, excessively thick and coriaceous, rigid, coarsely and irregularly lobulate-dentate; teeth large, acute, hooked, almost page 236spinous. Leaves of mature plants erect, 3–6 in. long, ¼–¾ in. broad, linear-obovate, obtuse or apiculate, gradually narrowed into a short stout petiole, very thick and coriaceous, entire or obscurely toothed near the tip. Umbels terminal; males of 6–10 slender rays bearing numerous racemose flowers; females of much shorter rays ending in 2–4-flowered umbellules. Stamens usually 4. Ovary 5-celied; styles 5, short, connate into a column. Fruit broadly oblong, large, ⅓ in. diam.—Students' Fl. 222. Panax ferox, Kirk in Trans. N.Z, Inst. x. (1878) app. xxxiv. P. crassifolium, Buch. l.c. ix. (1877) 529, t. 20 {not Dcne, and Planch.).
North Island: Between Whangape and Hokianga, Kirk! East Cape, Bishop Williams. South Island: Nelson—Wairoa, Hector and Kirk! Moutere and Matukituki, Kirk; Motueka Valley, T.F.C. Canterbury—Lake Forsyth, Kirk! Otago—Dunedin, Buchanan! Petrie! Otepopo and Lake Wakatipu, Petrie! Sea-level to 1500 ft. Easily distinguished from P. crassifolium by the large and broad-hooked teeth of the deflexed leaves, by the slender racemes of the male flowers, and by the large fruit. |
| 6. | P. chathamicum, T. Kirk, Students' Fl. 223.—A small tree 20–25 ft. high; branches stout. Leaves dimorphic, always simple; of young unbranched plants never deflexed, 2–6 in. long,¾–1 ¼ in. broad, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, acute, coarsely or finely toothed towards the tip, membranous or slightly coriaceous; of mature plants 5–8 in. long, linear-obovate or oblanceolate, subacute obtuse or truncate at the apex, gradually narrowed into a short winged petiole, obscurely sinuate-dentate or with 2–3 coarse teeth near the apex. Umbels terminal: male very large, of 6–10 primary rays, each with 5–8 slender secondary ones 2–3 in. long, carrying crowded racemose flowers often mixed with small umbellules: female umbels smaller; rays 3–7, slender, 2–4 in. long, terminating, in 6–10-flowered umbellules, with or without a few scattered flowers below. Stamens usually 4. Ovary 5-celled; styles 5, connate into a short truncate column. Fruit nearly globose, large, ⅓ in. diam., 5-celled, 5-seeded.
Chatham Islands: Enys! Cox! Hoho. February. I have seen but few specimens of this, and have consequently availed myself largely of Kirk's description. The absence of deflexed leaves in the young state, the larger and broader leaves of the mature plant, and the large globose fruit at once separate it from P. crassifolium and P. ferox. |