PUAWANANGA

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 220, 17 September 1938, Page 7 (Supplement)

PUAWANANGA

IF we are fortunate enough to go out into the bi»h during the month of September we will see patchee of white spread over the top® of the teatree scrub and along the edge of the bush. Closer inspection shows these white patches to be made up of great numbers of fragrant starry white flowers, about two inches across, draped in beautiful trailing festoons over the tops of the trees. We have all seen postcards and pictures of this flower, but our first glimpse of the real thing is a sight never to be for-

gotten. Unfortunately many of us eay, "How beautiful! Let us take some home,"' and thereupon these

chaste emblems of spring are ruthlessly torn down, to become bruised and bedraggled long ere home is reached.

Instead of doing this let us examine it more closely. We notice that there are six to eight sepals (they are not really petal*) arranged to form a single daisy-like flower, and these flowers are produced in immense profusion by the numerous creeping branches that straddle •cross the limbs of the supporting tree. Tracing these branches back we find that they all come from a common source, one or two rope-like stems or vines that have climbed up from the root. Clematis is a great climber, a single stem often ascending to the topmost branches of a high tree before finally spreading out into A network of flowering branches. While it likes to have its roots in the moist shade the flowers are •xposed to the blazing sun. But, alas for Lady Clematis: her glory is short-lived. After a few brief weeks the flowers will be all gone, to be replaced in due course by clusters of feathery seeds. When these ripen they will be borne away by the wind. Some of them, lucky enough to come to earth in a suitable place, will germinate and establish new vines which will climb skyward and in turn produce flowers and distribute seeds. Clematis is also found in other lands, where its flowers may be blue, purple or yellow. In New Zealand we have several varieties, the largeflowered one to which I am referring

Child Of The Stars

here being called Clematis indivisa because its leaves are simi>le and not divided a* they are in other varieties. All our varieties have white or nearly white flowers. This is a peculiarity of many Xew Zealand flowers and is thought by some to be due to tlie scarcity of insects. While yerv few butterflies and moths are about in the daytime, we have quite a considerable number of night-flying mothti which perhaps fertilise the flowers. Xaturallv at night-time they would be much more easily attracted by white than by any other col our.

Clematis is related to the buttercup and anemones arid is found all over Xew Zealand, wherever conditions are favourable. Near the towns it has suffered badly from the depre-

By E. G. Stevenson

AUCKLAND MUSEUM-

dations of motorists «nd trippers, but farther back it is still to be seen just as the Maori first saw it hundreds of years ago. According to one old Maori myth the clematis, or puawananga, as they cell it, is one of the first-born children of the two stars Rehua awl Puanga, which we know bv the names Antares and Rigel. Xo doubt the starry nature of the flowers influenced them in this belief. The story goes something like this. Beneath the earth there sleeps a monster called Kuamoko fl"d when lie turns over he causes an earthquake which has the effect of bringing warm earth to the surface. This warmth impels the plants to break into blossom, and Puawananga, bein-r one of the first. i« looked upon as a harbinger of

spring. Once the Puawananga hay flowered the other trees and plants goon follow. Strange to say, this charming native is seldom seen in our suburban gastons. Once established it grows quite easily and should certainly be cultivated much more than it is. The few thatJL have ?ee» in gardens are trained over trellis archways. Here

they make a brave ehow, but to my mind they are in the wrong setting. To show at its best clematie should be allowed to drape itself over the top of a small tree or shrub, ac. it would do in the bush. Set thus in preen it thrives well and ehowe up in all ite glory.

Some of you boys and girls might like to try growing clematis in your own garden. It is said that clematis grows easily from seed, but I have not tried it vet. Here is a chance for some of you to experiment. Gather the peed as soon as it ripens in late summer or autumn, and sow it thinly in a box of good light soil. Place the box in a sheltered, shady place end keep it just moist. Never allow it to dry out. Remember, in its natural haunts clematis germinates in the shade and shelter of the scrub which it will later climb. When the little plants appear keep them weeded until next autumn, when they may be safely removed to their permanent positions. Watch out for elugs while the plants are small.

If you are not able to raise the plants from seed you could procure one from a nureeryman, or perhaps from the bush. In removing plants from the bush it is important to remember that the very email ones are more likely to survive. A larger plant has developed an extensive root system which cannot but be damaged if we attempt to dig it up. Having located a suitable email plant, dig it up with « trowel or spade. taking care not to disturb the soil about the roots any more than you can help. After planting ft in its new home give it some water and watch it carefully for the first week or two. After that it will need little attention and will 6Qon shoot up to the sunlight.