STATELY NIKAU

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 75, 29 March 1934, Page 7

STATELY NIKAU

DESPAIR OP TIME

RIDDLE OF THE RINGS

BERRIES BY THOUSANDS

In 1573 the late Mr. George Denton made his home at "Pern Hill," 324 The Terrace, which was Town Acre 439 in the. original subdivision of Wellington. The spot, which is just whero Ghuznee Street joins The Terrace, contains flat and sloping land backed by a hill, and has proved to be very suitable for growing native trees and ferns. From 1885 "onward species of native vegetation were brought to "Pern Hill," including the nikau. Mr. W. 11. Deuton, son of the late Mr. Geo. Denton, has kept some record of tho plantings and of tie growth, and he writes expressing the hope that these "may prove of interest to lovers of the nikau, our only palm." Records, up to fifty years, of New Zealand vegetable growth, are rather rare. But here we have them, with the trees themselves— magnificent, specimens—in the licart of "Wellington. , ; Photograph N0..2 shows a nikau palm 44 years old. , It has taken, all that time to produce a nikau with a stein measuring, from, the ground to the base of the frond, 7ft 4in.; While ad-! mitting that nikaus might grow taller in less time if growing in wild conditions (being forced upward by competitive growth round them, and by the competition for light), Mr. Denton observes: "If it takes 45 years to produce a steam 7ft long, what must be the age of the nikau palms to be seen near the roadside between Parnparaumu and Waikanae ? " The best of tho nikau palms under observation at "Fern Hill" is that shown in photograph No. 1. It was planted, as a small plant, in 1885, and is nearly or quite 50 years old. At the present moment it carries sixteen of the branching fronds that ■ appeal- in the photograph. Its fronds are- 14ft long when ready to drop, and the plant nowMjasts in a year from two to three fronds. ' FI.OWER AND BERRY BEAUTY. . What forces off tho fronds? They are forced off by the development of the trusses of flowers, which, in. their undeveloped state, an» closely packed in a double envelope (about 20in long) against the stem.... As : seen iii' photograph No. 1, the butt of the. frond, shaped something like the calf of a military legging, entirely circles the stem. The swelled side, seen clearly in the photograph, marks tho developing truss. The truss in due time forces off the frond, then develops rapidly, and within a week is in full bloom. In matured plants the oldest fronds arc forced off in late December, January, and February, and early March. • ■ Note carefully that photograph No. 1 was taken in- March, 1933,' and "shows three trusses, one of these being then in its envelope.- The-truss on-tho left originated mUho.ipreceding DecemberJanuary; it ; ;has deflowered' .and .has reached theberry stage. .' The truss on the .right is. the .-. January-February truss,-and the berries are not quite so advanced. _ The sheathed truss above them,, still in -jts envelope, is of Febru-ary-March origin,, but in that season (1933) it failed to mature,, possibly because, the other two trusses absorbed the food supply available-to ,the plant at the time. . This No/ 1 plant, as it exists at the moment, has not been pnotogaphed, but visitors-to it today will find tho two developed trusses ({jerry stage) of. 1933 still hanging on itf apd above tfremftW n.ew"trusses ,(t'his season's) r^^in full flower. The , combination iLbf this season's 'flowers and last season's berries is very beautiful. In explaining how ;.the. plant can combine the harvest of two or three seasons, Mr. Dentcn states that the flowers do not last long, but the berries do. The berries form quickly after the dropping of the flowers, and in six months^aye grown to the size of a small peanjit?. "Their ripening is slow, and.notSiStil.six or nine months later do they fbl'inl a winter food for the birds^,;;. y -^ ,-,-.. TRUSS CARRIES 6bpO;JBERRIES. '"A well-formed; truss ."^rjes over sixty .stems;..each; stem sup'pjirts', on an average, one hundred berries; so a total of 6000 berries.may be estimated as the totalJbearing of a: truss." ' Picture, then,"what a beautiful thing is the plant (photograph-No. 1) today, with the left-hand truss containing about 6000 fully-ripe brilliant scarlet berries; with the •right-hand truss, carrying, its.quotum of half-ripe berries; and with the two delicate flower trusses overhead. The flowers are very small, are scattered along the sixty or seventy stiff branches of the truss, ..-< and are of a beautiful, amethyst.colour, in fine contrast '- to the ..,■ cream-coloured truss During their short life (preparatory to the long life of the berry) they attract myriads of irrideseent flies and minute' living insects. Photograph No. 2 shows the trusses ot no less than three seasons. . -, .. A comparison of tho, numbers '. of nngs-.-produced on the .-stem by four nikau palms planted,as small plants at "Fern Hi 1 1"... about "45 years , ago indicates, that these conspicuous ' rings of the nikau are misleading if Tone assumes that each ring means a year of growth. Mr. Denton states: < ' T planted these toar small palms about 4S 7 years ago under the same good conditions: they now contain forty,'thirty, fourteen, and eleven rings respectively, while' another, planted a full twenty-five years, has not yet cleared the"ground, uand' so shows no rings at a.11,. although it is a fine specimen. Only one- of these four has yet brought berries- to' maturity; ou the others-the trusses hav-e failed to expand." Then; reflecting on the vandalism of, cutting wild nikaus, he comments": , "Think of it! These slow growers have been thoughtlessly destroyed to decorate halls and verandah posts,, in past years, but never again, it is to be hoped." The fruit covering of the seeds is very thin. But the blackbirds and thrushes take the ".seeds'and carry them., to some shady, secluded spot, whero the bird eats 'the fruit covering and leaves the.seed. The shady spots selected suit "the birds and suit the seeds. The result is an abundant crop, of nikau seedlings—literally thousands in this one garden. But he who transplants a nikau seedling must be prepared to exerciso .patience. The seedlings make little progress for seyefal; years,-1 "but in eight or ten years' time'they make a decoration worth having." It is another case where the first seven years are the worst. The nikau is a palm with an individuality, and will reward you if you respect its, kinks. A little later in the year will be planting time, and patient people may obtain seedlings from Mr. Denton for the asking.