Native Wild Flowers

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 237, 7 October 1933, Page 2 (Supplement)

Native Wild Flowers

SPRING—V. WHAU (Entelea arborescens). A NEW ZEALAND ARISTOCRAT (By L. M. CRANWELL.)

Few native plants are more ornamelital or more interesting botanically than the whau. It is typically a coastal plant, commonest in frost-free arCas north of Raglan and East Cape, and it was at Anaura, in the East Cape district, that Captain Cook's party first collected it and recorded its Maori uses. Tlio wood is extremely light, and though slightly heavier than balsa, which is held to be the lightest wood iu the world, it is, when dry, only half the weight of cork. This lightness was, of course, soon discovered by the Maori fisherman, who fashioned rough floats from crosssections of the stem. The spongy pith could very easily be pierced, and the whole, very much like a large doughnut in appearance, was thcu attached -to the fishing net. As some of these nets were wide and built to stand great strains, efficient buoys were very necessary. In addition whole branches were stripped of their mulberry-like leaves and lashed together to form light rafts suitable for short voyages. In both cases there was cue drawback—the wood fairly soon become waterlogged.

Although the whau, like the kowhai, was collected in 1760, many years passed before it received full recognition. Cook's botanists realised that it belonged to the lime or linden family, but it was 50 years before Robert Brown gave it its present name of Entelea arborescens. Now this "•genus" contains but one species, the wluiu, and as it Is found only in this country, we should be proud to/claim it as a true-blue New Zealander, or, more picturesquely, one of the "tangiita whenua." The Maori phrase really refers to their earliest colonists, without reference to others of whoso occupation there is now liitle or no trace. In the same way we can still trace major waves of plant invasion in these islands, and there are other clues to ancient changes in the vegeta- | tion if we could but understand them, i We know that the old beech forests long I ago fell back before the vigour of I tropical invaders from the north. They appear to have been beaten back to the least favourable positions, but even in the neighbourhood of Auckland, as f<Minstance at Chelsea and Hunua, scattered remnants of their forces persist, although they have long since been hemmed in by the conquerors. All this happened so long ago that kauri forests have come and gone in the interval. It may seem strange for you to think "of the kauri as an alien, but even the i beeches are not "the oldest inhabitants"; ' there are groups of plants living in New i Zealand to-day that were old in history I when the beeches came. i

To return to the whaii. As I said, it is not found outside New Zealand, and it has no dose relatives in this country. In South Africa, however, there prows a sl\rub distinct only in a sniaJl point connected with the stamens. Its name is sparnmnnia. As it is said to grow in New Zealand as a garden plant, it would surely he worth investipatinii such a close, relationship, and most interesting- to see whether the two plants could be crossed.

The whau itself prows readily from seed, at*, iilso from cuttings. It is reallv most fortunate, for us that it can be kept in cultivation so easily as it is fast becoming rare in its native haunts. In pre-pakeha days it seems to have been very common near the sea, and was (hen found round Wellington and on the southern shores of Cook Strait. Now it has roughly the same range, but all the whau groves are suffering as the coastal forest is brought into eultiva-

tion. Stock, however, is a deadlier enemy of this lovely tree. JTost animals eat it greedily, probably because of its succulence due to the clear mucilage that streams through its tender wood. Wherever cattle roam, the wliau is doomed. Seedlings are trampled down and the old trees are torn to pieces. Where they cannot reach, the plants begin to bloom in all their beauty in October. One of the few wild plants that will blossom near Auckland this year is to be seen in a grassy hollow Motutapu Island. Tt is a tall, spreading shrub typically flattened on top, and on one side severely pruned by animals. In the spring it is covered with masses of starry white flowers worth going miles to see. A tiny stream runs over a papa ledge and then sj ,-ads out in a satin-smooth pool completely hidden by the branches of the whau. On one side close-set green shafts of raupo spring up and enmesh the blossoms as they fall. At its best this is a scene of rare beauty, and one that could be repeated in any warm garden where cither fresh or brackish #ater was available for reflections. Remember that though tho whau will grow in dry places, it thrives best on river silt, and it does like tc have its feet ill the water sometimes. It occurs to me that I may have harmed the Motutapu tree by mentioning it:, human hands are often so ruthless. Afy advice is to look on the whau when it blossoms, collect seed if you wish, and then grow your own plants. The flowers droop badly when they are picked. Whau, like laeebark, has a tougli bark which will peel for feet I bet ore it breaks. So always use a sharp | knifes when picking specimens. Whau is most satisfactory for gar- ! dens, ins it grows so quickly. Follow ! the bridle-track round the eastern cliffs ' of tho Coromandel Peninsula, and rou j will see young groves of whau, all self- 1 sown, rising 12ft and more above tho ugly slips they have covered within the last half-dozen years. Never wore gashes in the bush mo graciously covered as here.

The norma) flower consists of four or five pale green sepals, each tipped with black and covered with soft hairs oil their under-sides. r l'lic larger white petals have delicately crinkled margins and are flushed with vellow at the base. , Next conies a bright ring of yellow I stamens, producing a halo elicit around j the pistil. This has a fringed stigma at j the. top and a hairy ovary which later I develops into a large brown, shiny seed j capsule. Whau is also known by the following variants: YV iiauma and whnuama, also kauma and kauama. "Corkwood" is an apt enough pakeha name, but its host-known form is the Maori name, whau, which is sure to survive at least in the local place-name Maungawhau. The illustration above is typical of a small spray. It must . that the older leaves are usualjy from! J)in to a foot long, and have even been I measured up to 2ft in length on islands in the Hauraki Gulf. Kowhai Painting. Audrey <Ie Berry, an eleven-year-old reader of 2(>, Wilton Street, Grev Tynn. ha* been awarded the prize for ' the' above competition. Entries will be dis cussed iiii next week's issue.

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