Flora of New Zealand Series

Type locality: Anawhata, west of Auckland. Type: BD 45532A (G. S. 360) grown on from plant sent to Simpson by L. B. Moore.

Erect shrub or tree up to c. 10 m. tall, with trunk up to 20 cm. diam. Branchlets much-flattened, finely grooved, (4)-6-7 mm. wide, glab. or nearly so. Lvs on young plants glab., (1)-5-7-foliolate; lflts obcordate-to obovate-cuneate, up to 15 × 12 mm. Infl. of 1-3 racemes, 8-12-fld, on pubescent peduncles up to c. 10 mm. long. Fls c. 4 × 3 mm., on pedicels ± 1 mm. long. Calyx 1·5-2 × 1·5-2 mm., glab.; teeth broad-triangular. Standard, keel and wings white, purple-veined and -flushed; auricles rounded or bluntly pointed. Ovary glab. Pods black, subturgid, obliquely oblong, c. 8-10 × 4-5 mm.; beak 1-2 mm. long, subulate. Seeds (1)-2-(3), orange-red, ± black-mottled, c. 2-3 × 1-2 mm.

DIST.: N. Coastal to lowland forest margins and shrubland, North Auckland Peninsula and adjacent islets to Taranaki.

The sp. as at present understood includes several forms intermediate between C. williamsii and C. cunninghamii (as understood by Simpson) but without suspicion of hybridism with C. williamsii. Simpson, loc. cit. 250, places here Kirk's var. alata and var. strictissima of C. australis. Kirk's descriptions (Stud. Fl. 1899, 110) are: (a) "var. alata. Branchlets 1/4 in. wide. Racemes lax. Pedicels longer than the type; wings broader. Keel abruptly expanded above, with a large lobe or tooth at the base of the expanded portion. North Island: Hokianga"-(b) "var. strictissima. Branchlets 1/4 in.-⅜ in. broad. Racemes strict, very dense. Pedicels very short. Pods not seen. White Cliffs, Taranaki, Cheeseman!" Cheeseman (Man. N.Z. Fl. 1925, 518) accepts var. strictissima under C. australis, but does not mention var. alata. Specimens from White Cliffs seen by me have branchlets 4-5 mm. wide; fls c. 4 mm. long; pods ± 10-12 × 5 mm., obliquely oblong; seeds sparingly black-mottled. They fit C. cunninghamii rather than C. aligera.