sent. Female flowers: Staminodia present. Ovary sessile, broadly ovoid or oblong, 1-celled with 3 parietal placentas, or 3-celled with the placentas in the axis; ovules numerous on each placenta; style very short; stigma 3-lobed. Fruit an indehiscent more or less fleshy oblong or ovoid or subglobose berry. Seeds several, ovoid or oblong, straight or curved, terete or angular; testa black, crustaceous; embryo small, cylindric; albumen fleshy.
A small genus of 12 or 13 species, with its headquarters in New Zealand, but with 1 species in south eastern Australia and Tasmania, 1 in Fiji, 2 or 3 in the Sandwich Islands, and 1 in antarctic America. In New Zealand it forms a prominent part of the vegetation, especially in the northern forests, to which one or two of the species often give a peculiar aspect. The species are by no means easy of discrimination, partly from a certain amount of similarity in the ioliage, and partly from the flowers being dioecious, thus making it difficult to match the sexes. When dealing with fresh specimens these difficulties in great measure disappear, particularly if due attention is paid to the structure of the ovary and the size and shape of the ripe fruit, both of which afford excellent characters. The student will find some valuable remarks on this point in Mr. Kirk's notes on the genus, published in Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. iv., pp. 241–247. With respect to the remarkable diversity existing in the genus in the placentation of the ovary, reference should be made to the "Flora Antarctica," Vol. ii., p. 357.
In the following arrangement I have adopted Hooker's identification of the two species originally described by Cunningham. But Cunningham's diagnoses, such as they are, do not satisfactorily match Hooker's plants, and it has been suggested that he had other species in his mind. The question is one which cannot be settled, if settled at all, without reference to Cunningham's collections, all of which are outside the colony, and beyond my reach. But taking into account Hooker's remarks in the "Flora of New Zealand" (Vol. i., p. 251), where he says, "Cunningham confused all the species and sexes, examined none, and referred at random to Banks and Solander's drawings and notes, substituting names of his own for theirs," it appears highly doubtful whether such an examination would be at all conclusive. An alteration of the present nomenclature, which has received universal acceptance, would be a matter much to be deplored.
I have had much trouble with the species, 10 in all, described by Colenso in the Trans. N.Z. Inst. Unfortunately, few of them are represented by named specimens in his herbarium; and his descriptions are so vague, and so much overloaded with trivial details, that it is difficult to come to an opinion respecting them. But I can see no grounds for supposing that they are really distinct, or represent anything more than individual differences.
| A. Berry 1-celled. Ovules attached to 3 parietal placentas. | |
| Small, subalpine. Leaves 1–8 in., glabrous or scaly. Scape few-flowered. Berry oblong, ⅓–½ in. long | 1. A. linearis. |
| Leaves 2–5 ft. × ½–1 in., glabrous or silky. Scape panicled, many-flowered; female prostrate in fruit. Berry globose, ⅕ in. diam. Seeds terete | 2. A. Cunninghamii. |
| B. Berry 3-celled. Ovules attached to the inner angles of the cells. | |
| * Perianth not enlarged or coloured in fruit. | |
| Leaves 2–6 ft. × ½–1½ in., not conspicuously 3-nerved. Female scape stout, erect in fruit. Flowers ¼ in. long. Berry ⅓ in. long, ovoid, purplish-black. Seeds angled | 3. A. Banksii. |
