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Manual of the New Zealand Flora.
2. Melicytus, Forst
2. Melicytus, Forst.
Trees or shrubs. Leaves petiolate, alternate, toothed or serrate; stipules minute. Flowers small, regular, diæcious, in little fascicles on the branches or axillary. Sepals 5, united at the base. Petals 5, short, spreading. Anthers 5, free, sessile; connective produced above into a broad membrane furnished with a scale at the back. Ovary 1-celled, with 3–5 parietal placentas. Style 3–6-fid at the apex, or stigma nearly sessile, lobed. Fruit a berry, with few or several angled seeds.
A small genus, limited to the four New Zealand species, one of which is also found in Norfolk Island and the Tongan Islands.
Leaves oblong or oblong-lanceolate, serrate 1. M. ramiflorus. Leaves large, obovate, coriaceous, sinuate-serrate 2. M. macrophyllus. Leaves long, linear-lanceolate, sharply and finely serrate 3. M. lanceolatus. Leaves small, orbicular-ovate, sinuate-toothed 4. M. micranthus.
| 1. | M. ramiflorus, Forst. Char. Gen. 124, t. 62.—A glabrous tree or large shrub 20–30 ft. high, with a trunk 1–2 ft. in diam.; bark white; branches brittle. Leaves alternate, 2–5 in. long, oblong-lanceolate, usually with a short acuminate point but sometimes obtuse, bluntly and sometimes obscurely serrate, veins reticulate; petioles short, slender; stipules deciduous. Flowers small, ⅛ in. diam., greenish, diæcious, in axillary fascicles or on the branches below the leaves; pedicels slender, ⅓ in. long, with 2 minute bracts. Calyx-teeth 5, minute. Petals obtuse, spreading. Male flowers with 5 obtuse sessile anthers, each with a concave scale at the back. Females with a short conical ovary, crowned with a 4–6-lobed stigma. Berry small, violet-blue, ⅕ in. diam.; seeds few, black, angled.—A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 313; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 623; Raoul, Choix de Plantes, 48; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 18; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 17; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 3; Students' Fl. 42.
Kermadec Islands, North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Abundant throughout, ascending to fully 3000 ft. Mahoe. November–January. Also found in Norfolk Island and the Tongan Islands. The leaves and young branches are greedily eaten by cattle; the wood is white and soft, but has been employed for producing a special kind of charcoal used in making gunpowder. |
| 2. | M. macrophyllus, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 624.—A tall slender sparingly branched shrub 8–15 ft. high; bark brownish. Leaves 3–7 in. long, obovate or oblong, coarsely sinuate-serrate, acute or shortly acuminate, coriaceous; petioles short. Flowers twice as large as those of M. ramiflorus, ¼ in. diam., greenish, in 4–10-flowered fascicles; pedicels stout, decurved, ½ in. long, with 2 rounded bracts just below the flower. Male flowers: Calyx-lobes broad, obtuse. Petals more than twice as long as the calyx, spreading, strap-shaped, recurved at the tips. Anthers sessile, apiculate. Females: Calyx of the males. Petals shorter, more erect, barely half as long page 47again as the calyx. Style short, stout; stigma broad, discoid, 3–5-lobed. Berry globose, ¼ in. diam.; seeds 4–6.—Raoul, Choix de Plantes, 48; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 18; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 17; Kirk, Students' Fl. 42.
North Island: Not uncommon in hilly forests from Kaitaia southwards to the Waikato River. South Island: Waikari Creek, near Dunedin, G. M. Thomson! Petrie! Sea-level to 2000 ft. September–October. Easily distinguished from M. ramiflorus by the larger, more coriaceous, obovate leaves, and larger flowers on decurved pedicels, with the bracts placed just below the flowers. The Otago specimens have smaller leaves, but are not otherwise different. |
| 3. | M. lanceolatus, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 18, t. 8.—A slender glabrous shrub 6–15 ft. high, with brownish, bark; branches succulent, brittle. Leaves 3–6 in. long, lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, acuminate, finely and sharply serrate, membranous; petioles short. Flowers small, in 2–5-flowered fascicles; pedicels short, slender, decurved, with 2 bracts above the middle. Calyx-lobes oblong, obtuse or subacute. Petals erect, recurved at the tip. Connective of the anthers produced into a long subulate point. Style long; stigmas 3, minute. Berry globose, ¼ in. diam., blue-black when fully ripe; seeds 6–12, angled, minutely tubercled,—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 17; Kirk, Students' Fl. 43.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Not uncommon in forests south of Whangarei. Ascends to 3000 ft. on Te Aroha Mountain. October–November. This can be recognised by the narrow leaves, subulate appendage to the anthers, long 3-fid style, and minutely tuberculate seeds. The anthers often cohere at the back, as in Hymenanthera, but in habit and other respects the species agrees better with Melicytus. |
| 4. | M. micranthus, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 18.—A shrub or small tree 5–15 ft. in height, very variable in habit, sometimes a much-branched bush with tortuous and interlaced rigid branches, at other times a small tree with a compact head and slender trunk 2–5 in. diam.; branchlets pubescent at the tips. Leaves alternate or fascicled on short lateral branchlets, coriaceous, small, ⅕–1 in. long, oblong-obovate or obovate or orbicular-obovate, obtuse, sinuate or toothed, rarely lobed; petioles short, puberulous. Flowers minute, axillary, solitary or 2–3 together; pedicels longer or shorter than the petioles, pubescent. Male flowers: Calyx-lobes short, rounded, often ciliate. Petals twice as long as the calyx, broadly oblong, obtuse. Anthers sessile, very broad, rounded, obtuse, connective flat. Females: Calyx and petals of the males. Abortive anthers present. Ovary ovoid; style short, thick; stigma large, discoid, with 3–5 fleshy lobes. Berry oval or subglobose, ⅛–¼ in. diam., purple or purple-black. Seeds 1–4, smooth or angled.— Handb. N.Z. Fl. 17; Kirk, Students' Fl. 43. Elæodendron micran-thum, Hook. f. in Lond. Journ. Bot. iii. 228, t. 8.
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Var. longiusculus, — Leaves usually larger, ½–1 in., oblong-obovate. Flowers on longer pedicels. Fruit small, globose, ⅛–⅙ in. Var. microphyllus.—Leaves smaller, ⅕–½ in., orbicular-obovate. Pedicels shorter. Fruit large, ovoid, ⅙–¼ in.—M. microphyllus, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xix. (1887) 260, and xx. (1888) 189. North and South Islands: Abundant in lowland forests, by the side of streams, &c., from the Bay of Islands to Otago. November–May. Easily distinguished from all other species of Melicytus by the stiff rigid habit, small leaves, and minute few-seeded berries. It is exceedingly variable; and the two varieties characterized above are certainly connected by intermediate forms. I am much indebted to Mr. Carse for a fine series of flowering and fruiting specimens of both varieties, collected near Mauku, where they appear to grow intermixed. Mr. Colenso's herbarium also contains numerous well-selected specimens. |