the length of the keel; keel large, falcate, acuminate. Pods 2–3 in. long, turgid, many-seeded.— Lindl. in Bot. Reg. t. 1775; A. Cunn. Precur. 572; Raoul, Choix, 49; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 49; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 52; Kirk, Students' Fl. 118. Donia punicea, Don. Syst. ii. 468.
Var. maximus, Kirk, l.c.—Leaflets larger, sometimes 1½ in. long. Flowers rather smaller. Standard broadly ovate, acuminate, often with a dark spot at the base; wings oblong, broad, rounded at the apex.—C. maximus, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xviii. (1886) 294.
North Island: Exceedingly rare and local in a wild state, and fast becoming extinct. Small islets in the Bay of Islands, Colenso; Great Barrier Island, Kirk; Mercury Bay, Banks and Solander; several localities in the East Cape district, Banks and Solander! Bishop Williams! Waimarama, Nairn. Formerly cultivated by the Maoris in many localities on the shores of the North Island. Kowhai-ngutu-kaka. August–November.
The brilliancy of the flowers renders this plant a universal favourite, and it is now commonly cultivated in gardens throughout the colony under the name of "red kowhai." I agree with Mr. Kirk in considering that Mr. Colenso's C. maximus is not entitled to the rank of a species.
5. SWAINSONA, Salisb.
Herbs or undershrubs. Stems erect or prostrate, sometimes climbing. Leaves unequally pinnate; leaflets usually numerous. Flowers in axillary racemes. Calyx campanulate, 5-toothed; teeth nearly equal. Standard orbicular or reniform, spreading or reflexed, shortly clawed; wings oblong, falcate or slightly twisted; keel broad, incurved, obtuse or produced into a twisted beak. Upper stamen free; remainder connate into a sheath. Ovary sessile or stalked; ovules numerous; style slender, incurved, bearded along the inner edge. Pod ovoid or oblong, turgid or inflated, membranous or coriaceous, 2-valved or almost indehiscent. Seeds several, small, usually reniform.
With the exception of the following species, which is endemic in New Zealand, the genus is confined to Australia. It is very closely allied to the northern genera Colutea and Astragalus.
1. S. novae-zealandiae, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 51.—A small herbaceous perennial 2–4 in. high, more or less clothed with silky pubescence. Rhizome creeping, slender. Stems numerous, erect or spreading, branched above. Leaves 1–2 in. long; leaflets 6–8 pairs, ¼ in. long, opposite, oblong or narrow-obovate, obtuse or retuse, sessile. Stipules broadly ovate, obtuse. Racemes 3–8-flowered, on stout peduncles longer or shorter than the leaves; pedicels not equalling the calyx, bracteolate at the base. Flowers purplish, ⅓ in. long. Calyx silky-hairy, with linear teeth as long as the tube, 2-bracteolate at the base. Pod large, inflated, 1 in. long, acute at both ends; valves thin, coriaceous. Seeds 5–10, small.—Kirk, Students' Fl. 118.
