Flora of New Zealand Series

ngaio

Tree to c. 12 m high with rough furrowed bark, much less commonly a shrub, generally of open habit with foliage towards end of branches. Lf buds black or greenish black, rarely green, viscid, drying black. Petiole c. 1-1.5 cm long, scarcely distinct from attenuate base of lamina. Lamina 4-14 × 1-5-(6) cm, narrow- to broad-elliptic or obovate, often thick and almost fleshy, nearly always prominently dotted with pellucid glands, usually serrate to serrulate in upper 1/2, sometimes entire; apex mucronate, acute or short-acuminate. Juvenile lvs completely serrate. Fls (1)-2-6; pedicels c. 10 mm long at anthesis. Calyx 2-3 mm long, divided almost to base; lobes lanceolate to ovate, acute to acuminate. Corolla 10-15 mm diam.; lobes > tube, white with purple dots and white-bearded inside. Style sparsely hairy. Drupe 5-10 mm long, narrow- to broad-ovoid or oblong, mauve to purple or reddish purple, occasionally white.

N.; S.: rare or uncommon in southern South Id ( var. laetum); Poor Knights Is ( var. decumbens Simpson), Ch. ( var. laetum).

Endemic.

Mostly coastal but sometimes extending well inland.

FL Jul-Apr.

Poisonous (Connor 1977), although sometimes severely browsed by goats.

A fl. of N.Z. ngaio is illustrated in Fig. 85. The sp. is often confused with the introduced Australian ngaio, M. insulare. They belong to the same sect., but there is no confirmation of hybrids between them although they sometimes grow in close proximity. Var. decumbens has a low spreading habit and wider lvs than any other ngaio in the region. The white drupes nearly always contrast with those of var. laetum, although occasional white drupes probably also occur in var. laetum. Allan (1961) included Kermadec Id plants within M. laetum but they are treated here as M. kermadecense.