or 4 coalescing into 1; stigma capitate, 4-lobed; ovules 2 in each cell. Cocci 1–4, distinct, spreading, 2-valved, 1-seeded; endocarp cartilaginous or horny, separating. Seeds usually solitary; testa crustaceous, shining; albumen fleshy; embryo straight or slightly curved.
Besides the two species described below, both of which are endemic, there are 10 or 12 from the Pacific islands, 2 from tropical Asia, and 3 from Australia.
| Leaves large, 3 foliolate (often 1-foliolate in var. Mantellii); petioles terete | 1. M. ternata. |
| Leaves small, 1-foliolate; petioles flat | 2. M. simplex. |
1. M. ternata, Forst. Char. Gen. 56.—A much-branched perfectly glabrous small tree 12–20 ft. high. Leaves opposite, 3-foliolate; leaflets 2–4 in. long, linear-obovate or elliptic-oblong or oblong-ovate, acute or obtuse, entire, finely pellucid-dotted. Flowers ⅓ in. diam., greenish, often unisexual, in axillary trichotomous panicles usually longer than the petioles; pedicels short. Petals ovate-oblong, longer than the stamens, concave. Ovary glabrous; style short, stout. Cocci 4, coriaceous, spreading, strongly wrinkled and punctate. Seed black and shining, attached by a slender funicle, often protruding from the half-open valves.—A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 293; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 582; Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 603; Raoul, Choix, 48; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 43; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 40; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 66; Students' Fl. 86. Entoganum lævigatum, Gærtn. Fruct. i. 331, t. 68.
Var. Mantellii, Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 66.—Smaller, much branched; branches strict. Leaves usually much smaller, 3- or 1-foliolate; leaflets rounder, often obscurely crenate. Panicles 3–6-flowered.—M. Mantellii, Buch. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. iii. (1871) 212.
Kermadec Islands, North Island: Common in lowland districts. South Island: Marlborough and D'Urville Island, local. Ascends to 1000 ft. Wharangi. September–October.
The Kermadec Island specimens have much larger and more obtuse leaflets, but do not seem to differ in other respects. Var. Mantellii combines the characters of M. ternata and M. simplex to an extraordinary degree, and may be a hybrid between those species.
2. M. simplex, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 583.—A glabrous shrub 6–12 ft. high, with slender twiggy branches. Leaves alternate or fascicled, rarely opposite, in young plants 3-foliolate, in mature 1-foliolate; petiole flattened or narrowly winged; leaflets small, jointed on the top of the petiole, ½–¾ in. long, rhomboid-obovate or rounded, obtuse, doubly crenate, pellucid-dotted. Flowers often unisexual, small, greenish-white; peduncles usually several together, axillary, longer than the petioles, 1- or 3-flowered. Stamens longer than the petals in the male flowers, shorter in the females. Ovary hirsute; style very short in the male flowers, longer in the females; stigma obscurely 4-lobed. Fruit as in M. ternata, but smaller.—Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 585; Raoul, Choix, 48; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 43; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 40; Kirk, Forest
