Flora of New Zealand Series

Leptospermum perforatum J. R. et G. Forst. Char. Gen. Pl. 1776, 72.

Melaleuca perforata Forst. f. Prodr. 1786, 37.

M. scandens Sol. ex Gaertn. Fruct. 1, 1788, 172, t. 34, f. 10.

Type: P, 115.

Rather slender liane up to 15 m. or more tall; branchlets terete, ± setose. Lvs subsessile, close-set; lamina broad-ovate to broad-oblong to suborbicular on same plant, coriac., obtuse, ± 6-12 × 5-9 mm., glab. above, pale below and ± setose; margins recurved. Infl. of axillary few-fld cymes, crowded towards apex of branchlets; peduncles and pedicels pubescent to setose. Receptacle broad-turbinate; sepals broad, obtuse; petals suborbicular, white or pink; stamens 8-10 mm. long, white to pink. Ovary adnate to receptacle. Capsule subglobose, 4-5 mm. diam., exserted, loculicidally 3-valved.

Dist.: Three Kings, N., S. Coastal to lowland forest and margins to Banks Peninsula on east and Martin's Bay on west.

FL. 1-3. FT. 2-7.

Cheeseman (Man. N.Z. Fl. 1925, 595) doubts the Banks Peninsula record, but Wall (Rec. Canterbury Mus. 4, 1935, 106) states: "The specimen labelled M. scandens was collected at Akaroa in 1868 by J. B. A[rmstrong]. The determination is quite correct [i.e. M. perforata] . . . Armstrong has a note on the sheet 'petals white, filaments pink, climbing'."

A complex needing closer study, especially as regards habitat-modifications. A. Cunningham (Ann. nat. Hist. 3, 1839, 111-112) applies the name M. perforata to the shrubby forms ("Arbuscula ramosissima erecta") and his M. buxifolia is described as "A rambling shrub . . . climbing to the summits of the loftiest timber in the forests of Wangaroa, Bay of Islands, etc.-1826, A. Cunningham."

Colenso's M. vesiculata (T.N.Z.I. 16, 1884, 327) was based on specimens from "Hills, forests on the east coast between Wainui and Akitio rivers, '900 feet elevation'; January, 1883: Mr. Horace Baker, in lit." The collector described the plant as "a bushy shrub 2-3 feet high". Colenso emphasizes the "vesicular capsule and corolla". M. perforata, when growing without support, assume a bushy habit, with close-set ± entangling branches; the glands are us. more conspicuous.

Colenso's M. tenuifolium (T.N.Z.I. 24, 1892, 387) was based on a specimen from "Steep cliffy sides of streamlets and dry gullies, forests south of Danneverke . . . 1889-91: W. C." The description includes: "Plant diffusely creeping, very slender in all its parts, much branched, wholly glabrous; branches very long, flexuous, filiform, tetragonal . . . rooting . . . Leaves distant . . . sub 1/4 in. long . . . Flowers and fruit not seen." Cheeseman (Man N.Z. Fl. 1925, 595) says, most probably correctly: "Mr. Colenso's M. tenuifolia, as proved by the type specimens in his herbarium, is based upon the young plant, which has slender glabrous stems and almost membranous leaves."