3. P. Buchanani, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 725.—A shrub or small tree 10 to 20 ft. high, with slender spreading or ascending branches; young shoots and leaves silky-pubescent. Leaves alternate, 2–5 in. long, oblong or oblong-lanceolate or elliptic-oblong, rather membranous, acute or acuminate; margins flat, not waved; petioles slender. Peduncles axillary, solitary, slender, ⅓–⅔ in. long, 1-flowered or rarely 2-flowered, glabrous or silky-pubescent. Sepals ovate-oblong, obtuse. Petals linear, dark-purple; claw long. Ovary silky. Capsule less than ½ in. diam., subglobose, 3-valved, on long spreading peduncles.—Kirk, Students' Fl. 47.
North Island: Auckland—Kaitaia and Mongonui, Buchanan! Taranaki—Near Mount Egmont, Hector! Wellington—In several localities, Kirk!
This appears to be a rare and local species closely allied to P. tenuifolium, and chiefly separated from it by the longer and narrower leaves, long peduncles, narrower flowers, and smaller spreading capsules.
4. P. intermedium, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. iv. (1872) 266.—A small tree, in habit and foliage much resembling large specimens of P. tenuifolium; bark black; young shoots and leaves pubescent. Leaves 1½–2 in. long, obovate or elliptic-obovate, obtuse or subacute, submembranous or slightly coriaceous, narrowed into rather long petioles; margins flat, not waved. Flowers both terminal and in the axils of the upper leaves, solitary or in 2–3-flowered clusters; peduncles short, pubescent. Sepals oblong, obtuse or subacute, silky. Capsules usually terminal, large, nearly ¾ in. diam., broadly ovoid or obovoid, downy, 2–3-valved; peduncles stout, decurved.—Students' Fl. 48.
North Island: Auckland—Kawau Island, Kirk! October–November.
A puzzling plant, in habit and foliage not to be distinguished from large forms of P. tenuifolium, but the flowers are chiefly terminal and often fascicled, and the capsule is much larger, exactly matching that of P. ellipticum. Only one tree has been seen, and that was cut down several years ago. P. ellipticum is not known on Kawau Island or in the neighbourhood, or I should have felt tempted to have considered it as a hybrid between that species and P. tenuifolium.
5. P. Huttonianum, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. ii. (1870) 92.—A sparingly branched shrub or small tree 10–25 ft. high; bark black; young leaves and branches covered with white floccose tomentum, becoming glabrous when mature. Leaves alternate, 3–5 in. long, broadly oblong elliptical-oblong or obovate-oblong, obtuse or acute, coriaceous, flat; petioles ½–¾ in. long. Flowers either axillary and solitary or in 2–5-flowered axillary and terminal cymes; peduncles slender, covered with loose white tomentum. Sepals
