pubescence. Leaves 3–10 in. long, imparipinnate; leaflets 3–8 pairs, 1–3 in. long, narrow-oblong to elliptical, sessile or very shortly petioled, acute, acutely serrate, membranous, upper larger than the lower; stipules large, leafy, toothed, deciduous. Panicles much branched, many-flowered, longer or shorter than the leaves. Flowers unisexual, minute, 110 in. diam., sessile on the slender branches of the panicle. Ovary densely pilose. Capsule very small, 18 in. long, sparingly silky when mature.—Raoul, Choix, 47; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 79; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 60; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 63; Students Fl. 139. Weinmannia rosaefolia, A. Gray, Bot. U.S. Expl. Exped. 671, t. 84.
North Island: From Kaitaia and Mongonui southwards to Whangarei, not common. Makamaka. September–October.
6. WEINMANNIA, Linn.
Shrubs or trees. Leaves opposite, petiolate, simple or 3-foliolate or imparipinnate, stipulate. Flowers in terminal or axillary racemes. Calyx inferior, divided almost to the base into 4–5 imbricate segments. Petals 4–5, inserted under the margin of a perigynous disc. Stamens 8–10, inserted with the petals. Ovary free, ovoid or conic, 2-celled, 2-beaked; styles 2, subulate; ovules few or many in each cell, pendulous. Capsule small, coriaceous, 2-celled, septicidally 2-valved. Seeds oblong or reniform or subglobose, often hairy; embryo terete; albumen fleshy.
A rather large genus of over 50 species, distributed through the Malay Archipelago, Madagascar and the Mauritius, tropical South America, Polynesia, and Australia. The two New Zealand species are both endemic.
| Branchlets usually pubescent. Leaves of mature trees 3-foliolate or pinnate | 1. W. sylvicola. |
| Branchlets usually glabrous. Leaves of mature trees 1-foliolate | 2. W. racemosa. |
1. W. sylvicola, Sol. ex A. Cunn. Precur. n. 518.—An erect tree, usually from 25 to 50 ft. high, sometimes taller and reaching 60 70 ft.; trunk 1–3 ft. diam.; branchlets, petioles, and midribs of the leaves and inflorescence more or less pubescent or almost glabrous. Leaves 3-foliolate or imparipinnate, rarely 1-foliolate; leaflets 1 to 4 or 5 pairs or more, 1–2 in. long, obovate-oblong or ovate-oblong to lanceolate, narrowed below, acute or acuminate, coarsely serrate. Leaves of young trees pinnate, with numerous membranous leaflets; of old ones usually 3-foliolate, coriaceous. Stipules leafy, entire or toothed. Racemes 1–4 in. long, often numerous towards the ends of the branches, sometimes branched. Flowers very numerous, small, 112 diam., white or pale-rose. Capsule usually glabrous, 15–16 in. long. Seeds minute, with a tuft of hairs at each end.—Raoul, Choix, 47; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 79; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 60; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 72; Students Fl. 140. W. betulina and W. fuchsioides, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 516, 517.
