# Manual of the New Zealand Flora/Laurineæ

Order LXIX. LAURINEÆ.
Trees or shrubs, often aromatic. (Cassytha is a leafless parasitic climber.) Leaves alternate, rarely opposite, usually simple and entire, often gland-dotted; stipules wanting. Flowers regular, hermaphrodite or unisexual, generally small, usually in axillary cymes or panicles or clusters. Perianth inferior, herbaceous or coloured, deeply cut into 4–8 (usually 6) imbricate segments. Stamens usually twice the number of the perianth-segments, inserted in 2–3 series on the perianth-tube, all fertile or some reduced to stammodia; filaments flattened, naked or provided with 2 glands at the base; anther-cells 2–4, opening by upturned valves. Ovary free, 1-celled; style simple, terminal; stigma capitate, entire or lobed; ovuie solitary, pendulous, anatropous. Fruit a drupe or berry, rarely dry, free or enclosed in the perianth. Seed solitary, pendulous; albumen wanting; embryo with large plano-convex cotyledons, radicle minute, superior.
An important order, having its headquarters in tropical America and Asia, less common in tropical Africa or in Australia and the Pacific islands, while few species penetrate into either the north or south temperate zones. Genera 35; species approaching 900. The order includes many useful plants, the chief of which are the camphor laurel, cinnamon, alligator pear, sassafras, &c. The timber of not a few species is highly valued on account of its toughness and fine and solid grain The three New Zealand genera are all widely diffused in tropical regions.
| Trees. Flowers hermaphrodite, panicled. Three inner anthers extrorse | 1. Beilschmiedia. |
| Trees. Flowers diœcious, umbellate; umbels involucrate. Anthers all introrse | 2. Litsæa. |
| Leafless parasitic twining herbs | 3. Cassytha. |
1. BEILSCHMIEDIA, Nees.
Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate or opposite, penninerved. Flowers small, hermaphrodite, panicled or fascicled. Perianth-tube short; limb with 6 subequal segments. Perfect stamens 9 in 3 ​series; the 2 outer series with introrse anthers and eglandular filaments; the third series with extrorse anthers and filaments 2-glandular at the base; an inner fourth series of 3 staminodia present. Ovary not immersed in the perianth-tube, the perianth ultimately wholly deciduous. Fruit an oblong or ovoid or globose berry.
A small genus, comprising about 20 species, scattered through tropical Asia and Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and tropical America. The two species found in New Zealand are endemic. Hooker's genus Nesodaphne, which was formed for their reception, is now merged with Beilschmiedia.
| Branches stout, clothed with red-brown tomentum. Leaves obovate | 1. B. Tarairi. |
| Branches slender, glabrous or nearly so. Leaves lanceolate | 2. B. Tawa. |
1. B. Tarairi, Benth. and Hook. f. ex T. Kirk Forest Fl. t. 43.— A tall evergreen tree 50–70 ft. high, with a straight erect trunk 1½–3 ft. diam.; bark dark-brown, smooth and even; young branches, petioles, veins of the leaves beneath, upper surface of young leaves, and branches of the inflorescence densely clothed with red-brown velvety tomentum. Leaves alternate, petiolate, 3–6 in. long, obovate-oblong or broadly oblong, obtuse, quite entire, coriaceous, glabrous above when mature with impressed veins, glaucous and finely pubescent beneath with prominent veins; petioles about ½ in. long. Panicles axillary, shorter than the leaves, 1½–2½ in. long; branches spreading. Flowers small, ⅙ in. diam.; pedicels short; bracts linear, obtuse, caducous. Berry 1–1½ in. long, ovoid, dark-purple.—Nesodaphne Tarairi, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 217; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 238. Laurus Tarairi, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 351; Raoul, Choix, 42.
North Island: In forests from the North Cape to the East Cape and Raglan, but local to the south of Auckland. Sea-level to 1200 ft. Tarairi. October–December.
One of the handsomest, trees in the colony, and one of the most distinct in general appearance. The wood is light, close-grained, and easily worked, but is unfortunately wanting in strength and durability.
2. B. Tawa, Hook. f. and Benth. ex T. Kirk Forest Fl. t. 126.—A tall forest-tree 40–80 ft. high, with a trunk 1–4 ft. in diam.; bark thin, smooth, dark brownish-black; branches slender, silky when young. Leaves alternate, petiolate, 2–4 in. long, usually lanceolate, but often broader and oblong-lanceolate or elliptic-oblong, acute, quite entire, very finely reticulate on both surfaces, often glaucous beneath; petioles ¼–½ in. long. Panicles slender, glabrous, 1½–3 in. long; branches lax, elongate. Flowers minute, hardly ⅛ in. diam. Berry rather smaller than in the preceding species, about 1 in. long, ovoid, dark-purple.—Nesodaphne Tawa, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 217; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 239. Laurus Tawa, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 352; Raoul, Choix, 42. L. Victoriana, Col. ex Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 239.
North Island: Abundant in forests throughout. South Island: Nelson and Marlborough—In various localities on the shores of Cook Strait. Seal-evel to 2500 ft. Tawa. November–December.
A well-known tree, in many portions of the North Island constituting the largest portion of the forest. The wood is white, straight in the grain, easily worked, and is largely used for buckets, tubs, casks, &c. The plum-like fruit was formerly collected by the Maoris for food, the pulpy portion being eaten in the raw state, and the kernel after prolonged steaming.
2. LITSÆA, Lam.
Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate or rarely opposite, penninerved or triplinerved; leaf-buds naked or scaly. Flowers diœcious, in 4–6, or rarely many-flowered umbels; umbels axillary or fascicled or racemose, each one enclosed before the expansion of the flowers within a globose involucre; involucral scales 4–6, broad, concave. Perianth-tube ovoid or campanulate or scarcely conspicuous; limb with 4–6 segments, rarely more or fewer. Male flowers: Stamens usually 9–12; the filaments of the inner row or all glandular at the base; anthers all introrse, 4-celled. Ovary rudimentary. Female flowers: Staminodia present. Ovary oblong or ovoid, narrowed into the style; stigma usually dilated and irregularly lobed. Fruit a more or less succulent oerry, seated on the usually enlarged perianth-tube.
Species about 150, most abundant in tropical and eastern Asia, the Malayan and Pacific islands, and Australia, rare in Africa and America. The single species found in New Zealand is endemic therein.
1. L. calicaris, Benth. and Hook. f. ex T. Kirk Forest Fl. t. 10.—A perfectly glabrous closely branched leafy tree 30–40 ft. high, with a trunk 1½–2½ ft. diam; bark dark greyish-brown. Leaves alternate, petiolate, 2–5 in. long, ovate or ovate-oblong, obtuse or narrowed into an obtuse point, quite entire, firm but hardly coriaceous, often glaucous beneath; petioles ½–1 in. long. Flowers often very abundantly produced, in 4–5-flowered involucrate umbels arranged in short axillary racemes. Involucral leaves usually 4. Pedicels short, silky. Perianth-segments 5–8, oblong or ovate, obtuse. Stamens about 12; filaments slender, all with 2 stipitate glands near the base. Female flowers rather smaller and less numerous than the males. Stammodia flattened, each 2-glandular near the base. Ovary ovoid; stigma dilated, irregularly 3-lobed. Berry oblong-ovoid, ¾ in. long, reddish, seated in a flat cup-shaped disc composed of the enlarged perianth-tube.—Tetranthera calicaris, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 216; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 238. T. Tangao, R. Cunn. ex A. Cunn. Precur. n. 353. Laurus calicaris, Sol. ex A. Cunn. Precur. n. 353; Raoul, Choix, 42.
North Island: Not uncommon in forests from the North Cape southwards to Rotorua and the East Cape. Sea-level to 2000 ft. Mangeao; Tangeao. September–October.
Wood strong, tough, and elastic, suitable for all classes of coopers' or wheelwrights' work, for ships' blocks, &c.
3. CASSYTHA, Linn.
Leafless twining parasites, attaching themselves to living shrubs or trees by means of small suckers; stems terete, wiry or filiform. Leaves replaced by minute scales. Flowers small, hermaphrodite, in spikes or heads or racemes, each flower 3-bracteolate. Perianthtube turbinate or ovoid; segments of the limb 6, the 3 outer much smaller. Perfect stamens usually 9 in 3 series; the two outer series either all perfect or rarely the second series reduced to staminodia; anthers introrse; filaments eglandular; the third series all perfect with extrorse anthers, the filaments 2-glandular at the base; an inner fourth series of 3 staminodia present. Ovary almost free from the perianth at the time of flowering; stigma small. Fruit altogether enclosed in the enlarged, and succulent perianth-tube, crowned by the persistent limb. Seed with a membranous testa. Embryo with thick fleshy cotyledons, which are distinct in the young state, but confluent when mature.
A very remarkable genus of parasitic plants with the habit of Cuscuta. Species about 15, 1 of which is very widely distributed, 1 or 2 are found in South Africa, and 1 in Borneo; the remainder are all Australian, 1 of them being the same as the New Zealand species.
1. C. paniculata, R. Br. Prodr. 404.—Stems pale yellow-green, much branched, several feet in length, covering small shrubs with dense interwoven masses; branches 1/10 in. diam., glabrous or minutely silky at the very tips; scales mmute, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, membranous. Spikes numerous, often branched, ½–2 in. long. Flowers minute, distant, sessile, about 1/10 in. diam. Perianth glabrous; the 3 outer segments very small; the inner obtuse. Stamens 9, all perfect. Ovary glabrous. Fruit globose, about the size of a pea, enclosed in the enlarged and succulent perianth-tube, obscurely 6-ribbed or quite smooth.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 218; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 239; Benth. Fl. Austral. v. 311.
North Island: Extreme northern peninsula, from the North Cape to Ahipara and Mongonui, abundant. December–March.