NEW ZEALAND ORCHIDS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 87, 9 October 1937, Page 26

NEW ZEALAND ORCHIDS

As Miss H. K. Dalrymple suggests in the introduction to her book, a very large number of New Zealanders are quite unaware that we have in this country such plants as orchids growing in the bush and on the hillsides. Orchids most people think of as rare plants growing in jungles and swamps in the Tropics and cultivated by a few wealthy people in conservatories, and it is to be confessed that orchid hunting in New Zealand certainly is tame compared with the search for orchids in wild tropical jungles. But for all that, New Zealand has a surprising number of epiphytic orchids considering that the country lies so far to the south, for, as a rule, epiphytic orchids are found only in tropical countries. There are nine in Europe or in the northern half of North America. The New Zealand native orchids, of which there are 21 genera, bear a close relationship to those found in Australia. Nineteen of the New Zealand genera are found in Australia, eight of these being unique to these two countries, and several having a very limited range beyond them. "Orchid Hunting in Otago, New Zealand," has been written by Miss Dalrymple to stimulate interest in New Zealand's orchids, and what she has to say is presented in such a form that the younger generation will be encouraged to take an interest in this curious plant. The habits of orchids are fascinatingly described, and coloured plates and drawings are incorporated in the text. This small but valuable ■ contribution to the Dominion's botanical literature is published by Coulls, Somerville, Wilkie, Ltd., Dunedin. j