OUR NATIVE FLORA.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 102, 2 May 1925, Page 31

OUR NATIVE FLORA.

A BOTANIST'S JOTTINGS. NATURE'S PAINT BRUSH. (MARGUERITE W. CROOICZS, M.A.) Jlo&t of us remember that ecene in "Alice in Wonderland" ■where the gardener who had planted a -white rose tree in mistake for a red one trjed to repair the damage by painting the white roses red. Unfortunately the Queen, a person of vigorous and enterprising personality, arrived upon the scene before the painting was finished, whereupon his efforts elicited from her the laconic but adequate comment, "Off with his head!" Horticultural enthusiasts would doubtless sympathise with the aesthetic sincerity inspiring the Queen's remark, and yet one can say this much for the gardener, that after all he was only emulating a process often indulged in by Mature herself. For having fashioned things of one form and colour, she seems often abroad ivith her paint •brush, splashing streaks or masses of colour at random upon rock and tree. Take the red mud and silt in the stagnant poolß of inland marches or salt lagoon.-, ilcie we often see the dull colour of the pool floor brightened with a brilliant coating of some orange or crimson substance. If we investigate this coating, we find that it can Liv readily scraped oil', and that it is I usually slimy to the touch. Once again we find ourselvea in the realm of the infinitely little, and it is only with the aid of the most powerful microscope that 'we are able to make out the structure of this living paint at all. For it is composed of nothing else but an incredible number of t bacteria, "germs," or "microbes," as they are popularly called. The elimy feel of the brilliant coating alluded to is due to the fact that these tiny cells secrete a sort of jelly, in which they embed themselves for their .etter protection. Staining Up-to-date. Xaturc has many colours on her palotto, and being in no wise behind the times, we find her working with that recent discover}- of modern science, luminous paint. We arc all familiar with the phosphorescence of the sea. Here again we find grace and beauty yielded by some of Nature's smallest creatures. Some of these tiny light-giving plants are bacteria; others are minute onecelled seaweeds. They have become luminous through storing up phosphorous in their cells, though what precisely is the advantage they derive from the light they emit is not easy to sa}-. It has been suggested that the brightness may act in some way as a protection against the microscopic animals that prey upon them, "the tiny light serving to mask the exact position of the little plant as it moves about in the water." Phosphorescence is not \>y any means confined to the most primitive forms of life. It is found, also, for instance, in connection with some fungus plants. Certain fungi of the mushroom type exhibit this phenomenon. The matting of line tubes from which the mushroom springs is softly luminous. Similarly certain fungi, funning a tine matting upon tree trunks, make the tree appear at iiigbt ns if splashed with luminous paint. In the case ot fungi the light is probably a device to attract insects and other small chiklrct of the busli, who will be of use in scattering the tiny spores of the plant. "Tβ Make Old Bareness Picturesque." Vivid green is a colour often used by Nature in her random pala<*.ing, we see masses of it illuminating darli tree trunks or relieving the dull grey or ferown of our wooden fences. Sometimes the green is so like the green paint on telegraph poles that we could well believe it painted by the hand of man. But it is not so, for once more we are in the presence of a garden of Nature's tiniest plants. Like the "red snow" plants, each of these consists of a single microscopic cell. They lovo the shade and moisture provided by the dank bark, and are enabled to draw from the surrounding dampness and the atmosphere all that suffices for their eimple needs. So they live inoffensively enough, multiplying at a gTcat rate till they are there in millions, covering nearly a whole tree trunk with their bright, rich greeu. Moisture is essential to them, and should they be subjected to too much drought, they change their soft cell wall for t hard shell, thus keeping themselves safe and damp till the hard times have been tided o^'er. Nature's paint brush works with consummate grace upon the barren rocks, a touch of red or a gleam of bright orange standing out from the sober background as a vivid witness to her passing. Or, again, she softens the harshness of dark rocks or old stone buildings with touches of softening grey or greyieh green. The curiou9 grey encrustations which sometimes add so much to the Bolemn dignity of etone, belong to that curious group of plants the lichens. Now, lichen is not really a separate plant at all, but represents a sort of business partnership between two widely separate plant families. A lichen really consists of a fungus and a collection of minute water plants. The plants live together in perfect harmony, conferring mutual benefits upon each other, since each is well fitted to supply what , the other lacks.

The different species of lichen are legion; some of them are shrubby in appearance ,»-hi'e some consist of thin plates, branching and somewhat cnimpled, and known as foliacious lichens. Othere, again, are known as crust lichens and look exactly like paint. Lichens play an important part in the economy of Nature, their dual character and primitive structure enabling them to flourish where other plants would speedily Perish. They help to make and accumulate a little soil where formerly all was barren, and thus they gradually prepare the way for other more highly organised plants. They are the first plant colonists to appear'on a cooled larva flow "fter the eruption has subsided and it is only after they have done their work of preparation that other plants will follow.

Sometimes, as was suggested, they change their sober grey for brighter colours, while it is not uncommon on a ttet day to see the grey paint turn green. This greennesa is due to the fact that the fungus tubes, which contain no colouring matter, become transparent w "en wot, and thus the colour of the Pan plant partner shows through them. And so life, lovely and colourful manifests itself upon drab tree trunk and barren rock, and, Nature, mixing her "lours with unerring skill, puts upon we members of her kingdom those exqui«te finishing touches of softening le or vivid grace.