Flora of New Zealand Series

Fls 5-merous in panicles, racemes or spikes, or solitary. Sepals persistent, us. quite free; corolla-lobes imbricate, apex ± incurved; anthers us. included, dorsifixed. Hypog. scales free, ± oblong; stigmas minutely to distinctly 5-lobed. Ovules ∞, placentae decurved. Capsule loculicidally dehiscent. Shrubs or small trees of diverse habit; lvs simple, of linear order, us. minutely serrulate-crenulate on margins; base prolonged into an appressed sheath leaving a linear scar at If-fall. Some 28 spp. in subgenus Oreothamnus, all endemic to N.Z. except D. minimum (confined to Tasmania). Some 20 spp, in subgenus Dracophyllum, 8 endemic to N.Z., 9 to New Caledonia, 1 in Australia, 1 in Tasmania, 1 in Lord Howe Id.

SYNOPSIS

Width of lvs measured at widest part, us. near base.

• A. Subgenus OREOTHAMNUS; 
• • Fls solitary or in simple racemes or spikes
  • (a)
  • • Fls mostly solitary, sts in few-fld racemes
    • 1.
    • • Fls terminal to branchlet:
      • densum,muscoides,pearsonii. 0. politum,pronum,prostratum
    • 2.
    • • Fls axillary
      • α
      • • Lvs c. 4-8 mm. wide near sheath:
        • kirkii,pubescens,trimorphum
      • ß
      • • Lvs not > c. 2.5 mm. wide:
        • acerosum,palustre,rosmarinifolium,subulatum,uniflorum
  • (b)
  • • Fls in racemes, bracts caducous:
    • adamsii,longifolium,oliveri
  • (c)
  • • Fls in racemes, bracts persistent
    • 1.
    • • Racemes strictly terminal, lvs strongly recurved:
      • recurvum
    • 2.
    • • Racemes terminal on lateral branchlets, lvs not strongly recurved
      • α
      • • Lvs, all or most, not > c. 2 mm. wide:
        • arboreum,filifolium,lessonianum,paludosum,scoparium,urvilleanum
      • ß
      • • Lvs, all or most c. 3-8 mm. wide:
        • patens,sinclairii,viride
• B. Subgenus DRACOPHYLLUM: 
• • Fls in panicles
  • (a)
  • • Panicles appearing below lvs:
    • fiordense,menziesii,townsonii
  • (b)
  • • Panicles terminal
    • 1.
    • • Panicle small, anthers included:
      • strictum
    • 2.
    • • Panicle ample, anthers exserted:
      • latifolium,matthewsii,pyramidale,traversii

The genus has been revised by W.R.B. Oliver (T.N.Z.I. 59 1929, 678-714; T.R.S.N.Z. 80, 1952, 1-17) whose findings have in very large part been followed here.

The spp. of subgenus Oreothamnus are very difficult to discriminate owing to the prevalence of hybridism, the frequency of heteroblastic development and the plasticity of some spp. Flowering and fruiting occur over long periods, but mainly from November to May. Rarely juveniles and sts semi-adults may flower. No really satisfactory key can be drawn up in the present state of our knowledge.

Fig. 21. DRACOPHYLLUM. Leaves. © All rights reserved. [Image: 4X14]

Fig. 22. DRACOPHYLLUM. Leaves: apices and sheathing bases. © All rights reserved. [Image: 4X15]