# Manual of the New Zealand Flora/Verbenaceæ

Additions and Corrections
Order LVIII. VERBENACEÆ.
Herbs or shrubs or trees. Leaves opposite or whorled, very rarely alternate, usually simple (digitate in Vitex); stipules wanting. Flowers generally hermaphrodite, irregular or rarely regular. Calyx inferior, persistent, 4–5-toothed. Corolla gamopetalous, hypogynous; limb 2-lipped or equal, 4–5-lobed, lobes imbricate. Stamens usually 4, didynamous, inserted on the tube of the corolla; anthers 2-celled, dehiscing lengthwise. Ovary superior, entire or shortly 4-lobed, 2–4-celled; style terminal, simple; stigma entire or 2-lobed; ovules solitary or 2 collateral in each cell, erect or ascending. Fruit drupaceous or almost capsular, 2–4-celled (1-celled in Avicennia), indehiscent or the whole fruit or the endocarp alone separating into 2–4 pyrenes. Seeds solitary in each cell, usually erect or ascending; albumen present or wanting; embryo straight, radicle inferior.
A moderately large order, most abundant in the tropics or warm temperate regions of both hemispheres; a few species extend both north and south into cool climates. Genera 60 or thereabouts; species estimated at 700. Bitter or astringent properties predominate in the order, but these can hardly be said to be of medicinal importance. The teak (Tectona grandis), the timber of which is so largely employed for shipbuilding, is the species of most economic importance. The genera Verbena, Lantana, and Clerodendron contain several well-known garden-plants. Of the New Zealand genera, Teucridium is endemic; Vitex is found in nearly all warm countries; while Avicennia is widely spread on most tropical shores.
| Tree. Leaves digitate. Corolla 2-lipped. Fruit a fleshy drupe | 1. Vitex. |
| Slender shrub. Leaves small, entire. Corolla 2-lipped. Fruit separating into 4 pyrenes | 2. Teucridium. |
| Maritime shrub. Leaves entire. Corolla regular. Fruit capsular | 3. Avicennia. |
1. VITEX, Linn.
Trees or shrubs. Leaves opposite, digitately 3–5-foliolate, very rarely simple. Flowers in axillary or terminal cymes or panicles. ​Calyx 5-toothed or -lobed. Corolla-tube short; limb oblique, 2-lipped; lobes 5, the lowest one usually larger than the rest. Stamens 4, didynamous, usually exserted; anther-cells distinct. Ovary 2–4-celled; ovules solltary or 2 in each cell; style filiform, shortly 2-lobed. Drupe globose or obovoid, more or less succulent; endocarp bony, usually 4-celled. Seeds obovate or oblong, albumen wanting.
A large genus of about 70 species, scattered through most tropical and subtropical regions, rare or absent in temperate climates. The New Zealand species is endemic.
1. V. lucens, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxix. (1897) 525.—A large handsome tree 40–60 ft. high, with a massive trunk 2–5 ft. diam., and a large crown of spreading branches; branchlets tetragonous, glabrous. Leaves on long stout petioles 3–5 in. long; leaflets 3–5, shortly petioled, 2–5 in. long, elliptic-oblong or obovate, abruptly acute or almost acuminate, entire, quite glabrous, darkgreen and glossy. Flowers abundantly produced, dull-red, about 1 in. long, arranged in 4–15-flowered dichotomously branched axillary panicles. Calyx short, cup-shaped, truncate or obscurely 5-toothed. Corolla pubescent, 2-lipped; upper lip arched, entire or bifid; lower lip deflexed, 3-lobed. Drupe subglobose, bright-red, ⅔–¾ in. diam.; endocarp bony, 4-celled; seeds seldom more than 1 or 2.—V. littoralis, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 390 (not of Decaisne); Raoul, Choix, 43; Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 419, 420; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 203; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 223; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 105.
North Island: Abundant from the North Cape to the Waikato and Upper Thames, then sparingly southwards to Mahia Peninsula and Cape Egmont. Sea-level to 2500 ft. Puriri; Kauere. June–October.
A well-known tree, producing the most valuable hardwood in the colony, extensively used for all purposes requiring great strength and durability, as railway-sleepers, the framework of bridges, piles, house-blocks, &c. Also greatly employed for furniture and cabinetwork, and quite equal in figure and general appearance to the best Italian or American walnut.
2. TEUCRIDIUM, Hook. f.
A much-branched shrub; branchlets slender, 4-angled. Leaves small, opposite, petiolate, entire. Flowers axillary, solitary. Calyx broadly campanulate, 5-lobed; lobes acute. Corolla-tube short: limb oblique, spreading, 2-lipped, 5-lobed; the lower lobe the largest. Stamens 4, didynamous, attached to the base of the corolla-tube, far exserted; anthers 1-celled. Ovary villous at the tip, 4-lobed, imperfectly 4-celled; ovules 1 in each cell, pendulous; style slender, arcuate, 2-fid; branches subulate, shortly stigmatose. Fruit small, sunk in the persistent calyx, 4-lobed to the middle, ultimately splitting into 4 hispid pyrenes. Seed solitary in each pyrene, laterally affixed; albumen wanting; cotyledons large.
A peculiar monotypic genus confined to New Zealand. Although allied to Vitex, it has the anomalous character of a 4-lobed ovary, thus showing an approach to the Labiatæ.
1. T. parvifolium, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 203, t. 49.—An erect much-branched shrub 2–5 ft. high; branches slender, twiggy, more or less pubescent. Leaves rather distant, petiolate; blade ⅙–½ in. long, ovate or orbicular-ovate or ovate-spathulate, obtuse, membranous; petioles short, equalling the blade. Flowers about ⅓ in. long; peduncles short, 2-bracteolate. Calyx-lobes subulate. Corolla bluish, hairy. Fruiting-calyx ⅙ in. diam.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 224.
North and South Islands: Lowland districts from Whangaroa North to Otago, rare and local. October–January.
3. AVICENNIA, Linn.
Littoral shrubs or small trees. Leaves opposite, quite entire, coriaceous. Flowers in contracted pedunculate cymes in the axils of the upper leaves or in trichotoraous corymbs at the ends of the branches. Calyx short, 5-partite, unchanged in fruit. Corollatube short and broad; limb of 4 or 5 nearly equal spreading lobes. Stamens 4, inserted on the throat of the corolla; filaments short; anthers shortly exserted, ovate, cells parallel. Ovary imperfectly 4-celled by a 4-winged central column; ovules 4, pendulous between the wings of the column; style usually short, bifid. Capsule broad, compressed, coriaceous, 1-celled, 2-valved. Seed solitary, erect, consisting of a large embryo with the usual integuments very feebly developed; cotyledons large, folded longitudinally; radicle inferior, villous; plumule conspicuous, germinating before the fall of the fruit.
A genus comprising 2 or 3 very closely related species, widely spread along the shores of most tropical or subtropical countries.
1. A. officinalis, Linn. Sp. Plant. 110.—A shrub or small tree from 3 or 4 ft. to 15 or 25 ft. high or even more; roots putting up a multitude of stout asparagus-like suckers; branches spreading, the younger ones pubescent. Leaves 2–4 in. long, ovate or ellipticoblong or ovate-lanceolate, usually acute, narrowed into a short petiole, glabrous above and black when dry, hoary with a short dense pubescence beneath. Cymes contracted into small heads on erect angular peduncles. Flowers small, about ¼ in. diam. Bracts and calyx-segments densely silky-tomeutose. Corolla 4-lobed; lobes coriaceous, ovate, acute, silky externally. Ovary hairy. Capsule large, about 1 in. diam.—Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 224; Benth. Fl. Austral. v. 69; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 130. A. tomentosa, Jacq. Enum. Pl. Carib. 25; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 389; Raoul, Choix, 43; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 204. A. resinifera, Forst. Pl. Escul. 72; Prodr. n. 246; A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 195.
North Island: Muddy creeks and estuaries from the North Cape to Opotiki on the East Coast and Kawhia on the west. Manawa; Mangrove.
The Chatham Islands locality quoted in the Handbook on the authority of Dieffenbach is certainly erroneous. Probably he mistook flowerless specimens of Olearia Traversii for it. Forster's name of A. resinifera was applied under the supposition that it produced a gum-resin which was eaten by the Maoris. This mistake doubtless originated through drifted pieces of kauri-gum (which was formerly used by the Maoris as a masticatory) having been picked up on some beach amongst the roots of Avicennia.