Flora of New Zealand Series

Laurus tawa A. Cunn. in Ann. nat. Hist. 1, 1838, 379.

Nesodaphne tawa Hook. f. Fl. N.Z. 1, 1854, 217.

Tawa.

Type locality: "Shaded moist forests at Bay of Islands". Type: BM, A. Cunningham, 1826.

Tree up to 24 m. or more tall, trunk up to 1 m. diam., bark dark, smooth; branchlets slender, at first sparsely hairy. Lvs alt. to occ. subopp., on slender petioles up to 1 cm. long; lamina thinly coriac., entire, 5-10 × 1-2 cm., lanceolate to narrow-elliptic, acute to obtuse, ± glaucous below, midrib and main veins evident. Panicles axillary, up to 8 cm. long; peduncles and pedicels slender, glabrate. Fls 2-3 mm. diam., bracts linear, caducous; per. segs ovate to oblong, glabrate. Drupe ellipsoid to ovoid, 2-3 cm. long, one-seeded; pericarp dark purple.

DIST.: N., S. Lowland to lower montane forest from near North Cape to nearly lat. 42° on Seaward Kaikoura Range.

FL. 9-12. FT. 10-2.

In North Auckland forms with lvs up to 4 cm. or more broad occur, and may be of varietal rank; occ. forms suggesting hybridism with B. tarairi also occur. Hooker (Handbk N.Z. Fl. 1864, 239) cites Laurus Victoriana Col. as a synonym. I have been unable to trace either specimens or a description.