CORRESPONDENCE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 40, 17 February 1939, Page 8

CORRESPONDENCE

HOHERIA (LACEBARK)

(To the Editor.)

Sir, —Can any of your readers, more versed in botany than I am, kindly tell me the name of the lacebark tree of which I enclose a leaf for identification? I . have growing here a- very fine specimen. It stands some twelve-feet in height, and droops in a very pleasant ma.mer. It is altogether native, and is quite a different sort from the other lacebark trees which grew h such numbers along the edge of the bush. At the same time, can your informant please say if the seeds of this lacebark tree (the 'one with the serrated leaf) have any chance of prospering in New South Wales, or in the South of England, if I send a few to both places, or to •either place, where I have friends eager to try them; and, if they have any chance, what is the. best way of treating them to give a fair start? With, apologies for troubling you, I am,' etc.,

Ngaio, February 13th,

[A botanist to whom the above letter was shown states that the leaf is from a tree of the genus Hoheria (lacebark) but .the species cannot be determined with certainty from. the leaf submitted. A«flowering or a fruiting spray would enable a de-\| termination to be made. Any of the New Zealand Hoherias (lacebarks) will flourish in New South Wales or in the South of England, but if they are to be grown from seed the seed should be fresh. Fresh seed sent by air mail should be successful. It is i probable that many gardens in Britain and New South Wales „ contain various species of New Zealand Hoherias, and it is unlikely that the Sydney Botanic Gardens are lacking in this respect, as they contain many indigenous trees of New Zealand.— j Ed.] !