NATURE NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 143, 20 June 1925, Page 13

NATURE NOTES

WILTON'S BUSH

.ITS PLANT-LIFE

(By ft. H. D. Stidolph,,E.A.O.U.)

A casual survey of the native plants in Wilton's Bush, Wadestown, discloses a large variety of species. Its vegetation should be indicative of the former forest growth around Wellington, and even in this respect alone this fine reserve is very valuable. Nearly all the forest trees common to these parts are to be found. The matai, a lofty tree of the pine- family, is represented by several fine trees, besides some healthy immature specimens, and at a certain time of the year the trunks present a brilliant appearance.' Where.the. bark peels off, bright scarlet or crimson'patches appear ■below,, and a tree thus scaled is a beautiful object.. The kahikatea, the'white pine of the settlers, often branchless for seventy or eighty feet, is also well represented, but. perhaps one of the most bautiful trees of the New Zealand forest, the rimu, must take pride of place. Its pale green, drooping branches difjer from those of any other forest tree. The young trees are especially beautiful objects, and have the, appearance of a lycopodium. Formerly, judging by remaining logs, some magnificent specimens of the totara must have existed, but probably on account of its great yalue_ these noble' trees ■ were felled. It is this tree that the Maoris formerly used for their war canoes, which were often seventy .feet, in .length, and were hollowed out from single totara logs. Another conspicuous tree of Wilton's .Bush is the rewarewa, easily distinguished by its straight, poplar-like Erow, th- It is often called by settlers the bucket-of-water-tree, as it is so slow of combustion. It is related to the Australian bottle-brushes, to which family- it belongs. In November and December it is decorated by attractive red flowers borne in vacemes. Tho ta\vw, with slender branches, and pale usually narrow, wavy leaves, is quite common. It often reaches a height of about seventy feet, and the large fruit, resembling a damson, is much sought after by pigeons. A. few pukateas can be noted. Ibis is one of the loftiest of New Zealand _forest trees, often attaining a height of'lso feet, and it can usually be distinguished, by its pale bark and tho thin spreading buttresses that are apparent at its base: The North Island rata is well represented,- and its well-known scarlet flowers prettily adorn tho trees in December and January. This rata probably commences life as an epiphyte high up in ,tho forks of a tree. The seeds are minute and readily blown about by the wind, so that they may thus be driven to a considerable elevation. As tho young plant develops, it sends down roots towards the ground. These roots inosculate, and slowly en--close the stem of the supporting tree, whidi,at last is crushed by the grip of the rata. "

Among smaller trees there is a great variety. There is the pigeon wood, with its dark-coloured bark, and attractive orange-red berries, greedily devoured by pigeons; the kohekohe, one of the most beautiful of native trees, with large' glossy leaves, and white lily-of-the-valley-hke flowers, springing from the bare parts of the trunk or branch; the titoki, sometimes called the New Zealand ash, of handsome appearance, with its prominent jet-black seed, embedded in its scarlet envelope, and one of the most attractive trees in this bush; the interesting kaikomako, which in its young state is a shrub with. long fiexuous interlacing branches and small, distant, sessile wedge-shaped leaves, yet in its adult stage, is a handsome .tree with broadly oblong, short-stalked, glossy leaves about two.inches in length; the karaka, with its laurel-like foliage, and its large extremely, poisonous fruit; the wineberry, of the, lime-tree family, and which in spring bears graceful plumes of rosy flowers; the lunau, which in a good season is covered with vacemes of creamy, saucer-shaped flowers, each vacerne having the appearance of a spray of the lily-of-the-valley; the • mahoe, most abundant, with its violetHjoloured fruit—a favourite food of the native pigeon; the myrtle, with its -characteristic reddish-brown leaves, swollen between the veins and much in favour by florists; the kotukutukn, - the native fuchsia, at once recognised by its red-dish-coloured trunk, the bark of which hangs in flakes; the five fingers, the foliage of. which, is greedily, devoured- by opossums and cattle; the strange lancewood, the young stage of which is so remarkably different from ■ the full-grown tree; even the common but beautiful manuka—are all represented and virtually make this reserve a living plant museum.

And what of the climbers, the creepers, iho orchids, the epiphytes, the ferns, ■ and miscellaneous small., plants ? But they are so numerous that only a few can be mentioned. Tho kiekie. a lofty climbing-shrub, of which. - tho pleaty white tracts of the fruit are quito tasty, is quito common. . The well-known supplejack, one of tho most curious plants of the lily family, is also abundant, and its brilliant scarlet berries never- fail to bring forth admiration. Another large rambling climber to be noted is the muhlenbsikia, of which the fleshy operianths of its flowers are easerJy. sought after by tuis. And who does not know the bush-lawyer? This New Zealand bramble belongs to the same tribe as the raspberry and the blackberry. Perhaps high up in a tree fork may be perceived an astelia, with its heads of sword-like leaves. Another, ofi ten epiphytic, plant that may be seen ! growing from the fork of a tree, is the puka, which is at once distinguished by its long very thick, and shining leaves. Some of our most beautiful orchids are also epiphytic. In certain places in Wilton's Bush may be seen Dendrobium Cunninghamii: a particularly fine growth of this orchid was noted "on a rimu. Among _ lerrcstial species, the common Thelymitra longifolia is present, and has quite an extended flowering season. Passing from these various plants to the ferns, a wealth of new species is to be noted. Some magnificent tree-ferns j mamaku—enhance the appearance of the i bush at every, turn, while perhaps quite close at hand is the beautiful Todea. I hymenophylloides. a- relation of the magnificent Prince of Wales Feather fern. Filmy ferns, whose delicate and daintyfronds hang so charmingly from treetrunks or rotten logs, and carpets of the remarkable kidney fern, growing so luxuriously in suitable places, add charm to the bush scene. Tiny Trichomanes, themselves a fern, twine up the stem of a. tree-fern and cloth it with delicate greenery, while various kinds of Polvpodiums bedeck the trunks of larger trees in becoming style. And if it be sprint the glorious festoons of silverv-whito ttowers of the- clematis, looped from tree to tree, light up with delicate beauty the edges of the sombre-coloured bush Later its feathery seeds arc almost as i i? ,as the Sowers, c^l, Eecd the cluster -baring A leas, an^ £^

plume, which enables fine -wind to carry it a distance. And perhaps the notes of tho tui may be heard, uttered spasmodically, as it sips the nectar" of soma flower, or feasts on some luscious berries. Truly, Wilton's Bush is a sylvan retreat.