MAORI USE OF PLANTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 200, 24 August 1926, Page 15

MAORI USE OF PLANTS.

An interesting lecture on "The Native Flora, Its Use to the Ancient Maori," was given last evening in the University Building by Mr. V. F. Fisher, under the auspices of the anthropology and Maori race section of the Auckland Institute. Mr. Gilbert Archey presided. The lecturer dealt with the mythology of the indigenous plants, and explained 'the ma*hner in which many were used for food bythe Maori. He also described the method by which the natives generated fire, by rubbing a pointed stick of hard wood up and down in a groove of a soft wood. The importance of phormium tenax, or flax, as it is erroneously called by Europeans, was shown by the lecturer, who explained its use in making cloalcs, capes, kits, cordage, and other things, and he also mentioned the excellent ,dyes the Maori used to extract from the bark of the hinau (a rich black) and the tanekaha (a reddish brown). The old Maori used several plants as remedies in certain diseases, but, as Mr. Fisher showed, the brown-man thought a great deal more of a good sound incantation than he did of herbal remedies, when it came to a matter of curing illness or alleviating pain. In view of the interest and traditions attaching to the native flora, Mr. Fisher urged the appropriateness of encouraging the cultivation of native trees, shrubs and plants in public parks and gardens.