NEW ZEALAND FLORA

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 108, 8 May 1923, Page 7

NEW ZEALAND FLORA

TREES AND SHRUBS IN EXILE

A VISIT TO KEW GARDENS

CULTIVATION OF THE PHORMIUM TENAX.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRBSPONDBHT.)

LONDON, 17th March,

Year by year in the old familiar streets we pass by the neighbours whom we dare not salute nor speak to. Then one day we meet them, in the Strand, beside the Scottish Lakes, or on the battlefields of Flanders, and the mere fact that they, too, are New Zealanders provides a common bond of sympathy which breaks down all the reserve which was inevitable and seemly in some Dominion suburb. A process somewhat similar is applicable to our native trees and shrubs, but when we meet an isolated specimen in a- garden on the lav aide of the world we feel bound to acclaim it as a long-lost friend. Though we know it only by sight in the old days, no trouble is too great now to lea-rn its name, its habits, and the history of its exile. h\ an inconspicuous corner of a certain public garden in a south-east suburb of London there is a fine specimen of New Zealand flax (phormium tenax). The gardeners themselves do not seem to know its origin. But to the few New Zealanders who are aware of its existence, that plant is the most precious inmate of the gardens. Its immediate ancestors may have nourished in the swamps of Auckland province or in the gullies of Cashmere Hills, but it is much more likely that many generations before it have found a home in some sheltered bed in England. It is VH years since the first flax seeds were brought, from New Zealand by Sir Joseph Banks and successfully grown in Kew Gardens. 134 YEARS AGO. An account of the early distribution of the plant from Kew is given in the "Botanical Magazine" in 1832, and by that tune it had proved its suitability for cultivation both in Invernesshire and at Salcombe, in Devonshire, and Sir William Hooker pointed out that "the South of Ireland would, in all probability, be found to be well suited to its growth and increase." Sir Joseph Banks, too, in' Cook's first voyage, quoted in the "Botanical Magazine," says of New Zealand flax that it "would certainly he a great acquisition to England, where it would probably thrive with very little trouble, as it seems to be hardy, and to affect no particular soil, being found equally in hill and valley, in the driest mould and the deepest bogs. The bog, however, it seems rather to prefer, as near such places we found- it to be larger than elsewhere."

Since these early efforts to spread a knowledge of New Zealand flax and its value as a commercial possibility, little seems to have been done until the early years of this century, and even now only two or three people are crowing the plant with the hope of making ..it a ■paying proposition Amongst, these. is Lord Ventry, of Burnham, Dingle, Co. Kerry. It was .in 1918 that he made an official report of his efforts. Since then Ireland had been in such a disturbed condition that it is unlikely that he hrm made much progress in his business. In 1914. 1915, and again in 1918 consignments of numerous named ■varieties were sent through the High Commissioner to the authorities at Kew. The last lot all arrived in good condition, and were all sent to Lord Ventry for' trial under conditions most likely to be favourable to their growth. LORD VENTRY'S EXPERIMENTS. Lord Ventry, in his report, stated that the common variety with drooping leaves had been .growing in County Kerry for fifty years, and near the sea coast it yielded a heavy crop. He cut sixteen, tons of the leaves in 1917 for the Irish Paper Mills -Company, and it was made into brown wrapping paper. Since 1914 ho had sown many thousands of plants of other varieties, and they had all proved successful. "I am convinced," he writes., "that the plant can be profitably grown by the fannei-s' on the south-west coast of Ir«----land." Several landowners on the West of Scotland have also been successful in growing the plant, and have reaped small, crops which have been sold for binder twine. It is evident that any part of the coast of Great Britain or Ireland which is influenced by the Gulf Stream is capable of producing a commercial crop. £ut unless the land is rough or swampy it would not pay a farmer to develop tlie plant. Effort?, to grow flax in the open at Kew have all provel failures, owing to the severe frosts. It is estimated that the plant) ban itand twenty degrees of frost, but, not more. Why the isolated specimens in the south-east suburb should have prospered it is difficult to say. Possibly the slightly elevated situation has been accountable for a not too severe cold.

As members of the overseas forces well know, parts of Cornwall and Devon are suitable for growing New Zealand plants. At Torquay the sense of home was heightened by tile cabbage trees (Cordyline Australia), and the ilax bushes growing round the esplanade there. The late Mr. Enys, formerly of New Zealand, who lived for many years near Falmouth, possessed a garden that locally became famous Amongst other plants he had several fine specimens of totara, twentyfive or thirty feet lush, besides other .New Zealand conifers and beeches. The manuka (Leptosperauni ecoparium) grows as high as 40ft, and the kowhai (sophora telraptera). although of exceedangly slow growth, has readied some fifteen to twenty feet.- Two good specimens of kowhai are to be seen growing in the open at Kew. one some 18ft in height, which has been there for twenty years, and another 12ft in height. In Falmouth recently a new avenue has been opened, and on either side cabbafe trees have been planted. 'The 6000 trees have been raised by Mr. Ernest Gill, 'of Falmonth, who is adviser to the council, and has superintended the -planting of what should be a beautiful and certainly unique avenue. TOTARA AND KAURI PINE. As for Kew Gardens, one can spend an exceedingly pleasant hour or two renewing acquaintance with hundreds of old friends. They are mainly within the shelter of the Temperate House whose great dome is 70ft above the ground. Thii totara tree has now readied a height of 55ft, and the kauri pine' a height of 60ft. In a- few years' time their upward growth 'will doubtless have to be checked. Cabbage trees have grown 55ft in height, but they are slender, irregular, and- frugally crowned with foliage. The Norfolk Island, pine planted in 1846, and the Moreton Bay pine planted in 1826, both' beautiful trees, have, also reached the limit of the glass house. The rata is 30ft in height, and growing luxuriantly, but it never : flowers. In the Scilly Isles, however, 'the rata flourishes exceedingly out of doors, and the inhabitants of "those isI lands enjoy the beauty ot its scarlet blooms. In the comfort of the glass mansion the uikau palms are growing with ii lijxtmnncci i-hat is not known in New Zealand itself. Thousands of little,

seedlings are springing up beneath each tree. Tree ferns, too, are doing well. Of all the- New Zealand trees there seems to be at least one specimen, the majority as yet jwutliful, but all vigorous in growth. Most of these may be grown outside in Cornwall, but not elsewhere in England. OENAMENTAL SHRUBS. ' Nevertheless, there are numbers of shrubs which can stand the severe conditions of this climate. The Olearia Haastii is one of the hardiest and flowers in numbers of gardens within a mile or two of St. Paul's. It is readily reared from cuttings. Eight other varieties of Olearia have been cultivated in England and thrive in sheltered spots. Fuchsia excorticata will flower in London, but the severe frosts cut it down to the ground each winter. In Cornwall, however, it will grow into a small tree. Corokia cotoncaster, that strong, jagged bush, growing, on the mountains and the sandhills which may serve as an impromptu couch on a summer afternoon, is not averse to the London climate. A bush has been, growing for twenty years in the open at Kew. Veronicas, in the multifarious varieties, stand the climate well, but they are short-lived • plants. Senecia compactus, though rare in New Zealand itself, may be grown out-of doors here, and the famous mutton bird leaves of Stewart Island (puberetaiko or Senecio rotiwdifolius)- is also found in the open. The ramarama (Myrtus bullata) and the rohutu (Myrtus obcordata) have both stood several winters outside at Kew, while there are a number of fine specimens of the former in several Cornish gardens. The reddish colouration of the leaves in winter makes this shrub a particularly desirable one to cultivate. The hybrid Myrtus Kalphii is also growing outside at* Kew in a sheltered position. Melicytus ramiflovus, more familiarly known as the mahoe, and the two members of the violet family, Hymentheraabovata and hymenanthera crasiifolia, and the dwarf broom, are four other shrubs to be seen in a sheltered garden. Finally, there is to be seen on a Kow rockery a fine specimen of the vegetable-sheep (Eoulia eximia), which has been thriving there for a number of years.