THROUGH A BOTANIST'S EYES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 220, 10 June 1908, Page 6

THROUGH A BOTANIST'S EYES.

NEW DESCRIPTION OF ROTORUA. GRAPHIC. IMPRESSIONS. In t.he Melbourne "Argus," Mr. W. R. Guilfoyle, director of the Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, writes tho following interesting article:— "Tho railway from Auckland to Rotorua passes through some grand examples of bush scenery, and those who possess a fair knowledge of the New Zealand flora will easily recognise many of the magnificent forest trees, large shrubs, climbers, and, indeed, scores of other plants, as tho train rushes along. Tho brightness of tho greenery is most striking, • and there is an exuberant growth almost everywhere, which tells of rich soil and abundant moisture. . . . Some of the deep cuttings and embankments along the sides of hills, it is true,* are bare and wall-like, while others are capped with overhanging vegetation, in which goriarias, personsia, rubns, schefflera, together with ferns and sedgy grasses, arc prominent. Conspicuous in the forests, or oir the margins of clearings and cultivated areas, aro the gorgeous crimson-flowered ' rata,' and . . ' polnitukawa,'. which are species of mctrosideros; tho ' karaka,' or Now Zealand laurel; glossyleaved griselina, white-blossomed hoheria, aristotclia, or plagianthus; scarlct-fruited alectryon, or native ash ; gracefully-spreading golden ' kowhai,' or New Zealand laburnum (sophora tetraptera); masses of shining coprosmas, pittosporums, and veronicas of many hues; all mingled in picturesque confusionr Towering {ar above tho thick jungles in some localities are noblo specimens of dacrydilini, podocarpus, totara, and other trees valued for their timber,- but, like tho magnificent ' kauri' pine, gigantic specimens are fast becoming scarce. A Botanist's Paradise.

"The scenery along the whole• of,the railway line, a distance of 171 miles, presents a series of interesting and, delightful pictures, but, as tlio train gradually leaves the low country and ascends towards tho hot lake district, it becomes wilder, moro varied, so far as tints of greenery, etc., aro concerned, and, to a great extent, more beautiful. Mountain and valley, alike, in some places, are clothcd with a vegetation, which, for richness of growth, is, perhaps, unsurpassed in any other part of the world. How many species of plants could bo found in an aero of such densely-habited country it would bo difficult to guess, but one can well imagine that thenumber would bo great. Charming views of broad fertile-looking valleys studded with robust cordylines, or cabbage-trees, are frequent—the latter often seen in 'belts amidst patchcs of tho graceful toi-grass (arundinaria) and of phormium (the so-called nativo flax). Extensive garden-like expanses, with spacious- lawns and winding streams, meet tho oyo occasionally, and peeps into woody dells, beauty spots, in fact, whero one would givo much to be able to roam. Further along a different scene presents itself—a stretch'of rich pasturage, it may bo, bounded by natural shrubberies, and dotted with shapely trees and round-headed shrubs, liko an English park. Oh further still, for less than half a mile, past walls of scoria and high banks, the scene changes suddenly, and 0110 gams down into a deep ravine whero cascades aro leaping over moss-clad rocky ledges, a fallen monarch of tho forest entangled in supplejack vine, or possibly .clematis; and " thence they flow beneath leafy canopies, where one might expect to find a hundred treasures of the forir kingdom. V

The Sanatorium Grounds. "The sanatorium grounds, or public gardens, at Rotorua are. a great credit to thoso who designed them, and to Mi'. Pearson, the present curator, is due a'large amount of praise for having accomplished so much, notwithstanding many difficulties.. •. Th'o'fsoil of tho locality was extremely. poor to begin with, much excavation had to bo done, and thero was a scarcity of fresh'.water. Thero still remain patchcs of hard scoria, or pumice, impregnated with sulphur, and magnesia, whore nothing can be induced to grow. The grounds are well laid out, and aro used partly for. recreation purposes in the way ol tennis, bowls, ■ and croquet. Tho cultivated area consists of about 30 acres of lawn, shrubbery, and flower beds; and as tho surfaco is flat everywhere, much skill has been shown in arranging the groups of plants, etc., in such a way as to render tho absence of undulation less noticeable. A pleasing feature is a series of ponds, margined with low rock-work, in the interstices of which iris, succulents, ferns, and many otlier plants are, thriving. Tho small promontories, which aro in keeping with the extent of water spaco, are ornamented with slender-growing •bamboos, reeds, grasses, and other gracefullydrooping plants; and nothing likely to obseuro a good view or lessen the pleasing effects of these Liliputian lakes has been 'placed too near to them. Distributed over the surrounding sward aro numorous wellfurnished pines, cypress, retiiiosporas, junipers, /cryptomorias, oaks, elms, ash, birches, planes, rowan trees. Nearly all of the plants are exotic, and it is to be regretted that the interesting vegetation of New Zealand itself is so poorly represented. " An exceptionally lino collection of herbaceous plants and annuals were cultivated in borders and special beds, and among tho many well-known bulbs seen thriving were somo fine clumps of lilium auratum in full bloom. As already stated, the soil of the garden is anything but. rich, the most favoured spots being seldom moro than- a couple of feet 'deep, yet trees grow there with marvellous rapidity. . . . Tap-rooted trees will not_ enter the subsoil, but depend wholly upon their surfaco roots, . . . which spread far in search of nourishment, Tasmanian bluegums, for instance, have attained a height of 100 ft. in 20 years, and numerous individuals of cryptomeria elegans havo grown fully 30ft. in less than eight years. . . . Larches have developed shoots of sft. in a year.. That such wonderful growth must be duo to subterranean heat not far below tho thin crust' of soil, there can bo no doubt; in fact, tho ground is unbearably hot in several places, and one of tho attractions of. tho grounds is the celebrated Rachol springs—a boiling cauldron 150 ft. deep, and somo yards wide. The Blue Lake at TiSdtapu.

" Tho Manuka broom, or ' tea-tree' scrub, monopolises a largo tract of tho country around Rotorua, and is so donse in places as to render walking through it almost impossible, without tho aid of a. slashing knife. But there are fairly good roads and pleasant, drives to moro attractive scencry only a few niiles distant. Ono of theso outings I was induced to take, in spito of rheumatic troubles—a ten-mile drivo to Tikitapu, the blueest of blue lakes, • which we saw on a glorious sunny morning. No blue water that I have ever seen could comparo with it for brilliancy and splendour. Exquisite! lovely I heavenly! were the exclamations most frequently used as wo feasted our eyes on the magnificent bluo mirror before us, framed in vivid 'greenery, and fringed in places with russet bracken. Tho water was not the bright indigo bluo of somo Australian lakes I havo seen; not tho shade called peacock blue which belongs to Locoo, an arm of Como; nor even the delightful cerulean blue colour of tho sea water in tho grotto at Capri. Brighter by far ;was it than tho lapislazuli or aqua-marino tinted shallows around South Sea coral islands. It was a diaphanous blue, of a tint which it would bo hopeloss to try to imitate or adequately describe. . Tho only thing to which wo could by stress of imagination liken Tikitapu with its sparkling wavelots was a thousand acres of something between liquid sapphire and tur(juoise, glittering with diamonds. Nothing ill naturo havo I ever witnessed so strikingly beautiful.

" And only n narrow neck of land densely clothed with shrubs and tangled jungle, soparates tho blue lako from what is known as tho green lalto or Rotokakahi—a vast sheet of silver, shaded with apple-green and partly surrounded by steep mountains, clad in verdnro from base to summit. Tho vegetation in the vicinity of both lakes is varied and interesting, and must havo been truly magnificent beforo the great eruption of Mount Tarawora. . . . which.half-buried tho forest country for many miles around, and; destroyed tho world-renowned Pink and terraces of R/ohnmn.liftTm."-.