NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLUB

Evening Star, Issue 20024, 15 November 1928, Page 17

NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLUB

A VISIT TO JUBILEE PARK On Saturday members,:of the Fiffld Club visited Jubilee .Park with the object of studying particularly the Lnglisn deciduous trees. In contrast with our native trees, which are mostly evergreen, the leaves of the English trees are on the whole larger, thinner in texture, and of a lighter green, while their flowers are inconspicuous, ana often arranged in catkins. With t.lie exception of the‘ash,.-practically ail or them * are now in ‘full leaf, and many are. in flower. The varieties of single and double pink and red hawthorn show up beautifully against their green background, and tho heavy scented flowers of the rowan are fully out. The lime was noted, with ■ its rounded, uneven leaves of delicate green and its leaflike bracts bearing tiny flowers; three species of poplar (Lombardy, white and black), their green fruits already opening to let out tho white down of tho seeds;' the larch, with its developing cones at present like tiny pineapples, and its long shoots appearing ; the elm (two species), with corky bark and very numerous suckers at its base, leaves uneven, like those of the lime, and winged fruits long since strewn on the ground: the sweet (or Spanish) chestnut, with handsome simple leaves, and tho horse chestnut, with very large compound leaves. Perhaps the two least common and most interesting trees were tho hornbeam and the tulip tree (Liriodendron), The former is a small tree with unusually leafy branches. It is called hornbeam, or hardboam, because of the hardness of its wood (“ beam ” being tho old English word for a living tree). Tho flowers come out before the leaves, and already the characteristic green fruit clusters are hanging down from tho twigs, though it takes sharp eyes to find them. The tulip tree has a leaf of very unusual shape, rather like a cup and saucer, the apex of tho leaf being hollowed out as if snipped with a pair of scissors. Before the leaf comes out it is folded in two at tho end of its long curving petiole, and splendidly protected by two stout stipules, whoso edges meet, and thus form a neat case. There are numerous spreading sycamores, with multitudes of young seedlings underneath, and oaks whose acorns at present are little more than a crimson dot. One magnificent evergreen oak near the Maori road entrance makes an interesting contrast with the ordinary deciduous ones- Its old leaves ere much larger and darker, while the now season’s leaves at the ends of the twigs are pale green, and protected by a curious tawny down. STEWART ISLAND At the indoor meeting, held on Monday evening, a paper, ‘Some Notes on the Natural History of Stewart Island,’ was contributed by Mr W. Martin,. B.Sc., formerly leader of the botanical section, but now in Blenheim. Mr Martin, in the courso of bis remarks, said: On my last visit some five weeks were spent on the island, one of them in the far south, away entirely from the haunts of men. I have had an opportunity therefore of seeing most of the formations and associations of plants, which together comprise tho vegetation of Stewart Island, The lowlands are everywhere covered with forest or swamp, the latter being, however, of small area, save at the head of Paterson's Inlet. The uplands are mainly scrub and bog Forest is of two principle types, rimn and kahaini being the dominant trees in the area north of Paterson’s Inlet, and yellow pine the principle member of the (southern half on the island. As the south coast is approached the trees become more and moro stunted, till in tho very south the yellow. pine may stand not more than 10ft high on tho ridges and 30ft in the valleys. Of courso rimu and kamahi are found in most parts of the island, but the yellow pine, which characterises the southern forests, is not found in tho north at all. The southern rata (Metrosidorous lucida) is abundant, and in flowering seasons paints the landscape in glorious colours. Miro is also abundant, its fruit providing the staple food of kaka and pigeon in season. .. The totara is wholly Podocarpus Hallii, the true totara being conspicuous by its absence.' White pine is rarely seen, and black pine is sparingly scattered over the northern area The young rimu in Stewart Island is a much more graceful plant than on the mainland, and grows in tho more open spaces and clearings rather than m the forest as is customary in the north. Indeed, a grove of young rimu is a very pleasing sight. The smaller trees of tho forest are all such as are common enough about Dunedin, the dominant members being tho lanccwood the pato (Schefflera), the broadleaf, Panax, wineberry, two hina-hinas, puta-weta (Carpodetus), stinkwood, mapau and raukawa (Panax edgerleyi); but in the scrub, so characteristic of the upper forest margin as well as of the coastal margin wherever exposed to the wind, some of the shrub daisies (Olearia, Senecio) approach tho stature of small trees, as also does the neinei or manga (Dracophyllum longifolium), a plant exceedingly abundant on the forest margins of the upper reaches ot Port Pogasus in tho south. The commonest shrub, at times almost a tree, on the northern forest margin is the muttonbird scrub (Senecio rotuudifolius) on the coastal fringe of the southern part of the island, it is either the purple flowered tele aweka (OJeana angustiiolio) or the broad-leafed Ulearia Oolensoi. Milling has been permitted in the north, but south ot i at* erson’s Inlet tho whole island is a scenic reserve, nominally a sanctuary for indigenous and endemic life, plant and animal, but now so infested with doer that the undergrowth has completely gone in forests traversed by mo m the south—a public scandal, committed m the name of sport by people with no knowledge whatsoever of the nature of tho tragedy they initiate. Even tho stinkwood sometimes assumes surprising proportions. The mountain 1 anax INothopanax simplex) is in Stewart Island a commoner member ot lowland forest. The tiny leafed, probably hybrid (N. parvum) is common in one comparatively small area. everywhere the forest is girded with the thick-leafed shrubs of which the muttonbird scrub is usually dominant, but manuka, tete-a-wcka, and Oleana Colensoi in wide areas are sometimes the dominant members. Each and all of these can withstand tho fury ot wind and spray. With them one commonly notes the inuka oi grass tree, the rata, the mountain flax (Phormium Cookiamim;, and the shore speedwell (Veronica elliptica), now known as He bo elliptica, and in lesser amount raingi* mingi and several coastal ferns. Soutn of Lord’s lliver the large-leafed Punui (Stilbocarpus Lyallii) was usually quite conspicuous on the cliffs. The higher mountains are mainly in the northwest corner of tho island, wheie Mount Anglin, tho highest point reaches a height a trifle higher than Maungatfia. Here the sub-alpine shrub zone is so dense that neither man nor dog can penetrate it. Progress is possible only by using the slasher. oi climbing over the top—a rather risky undertaking at the best. A shrub always present is Oleari. Colensi, and, I think; the grass tree is always present also,-but -a, shrub found only in , this zone, and a very striking one too, is Dracophyllum Menzusn, a small grass tree having broad, reddish, recurved leaves, with a marked resemblance to a pineapple, plant, borne on a naked ringed stem* It is restricted apparently to Mount Anglem, as also are several oilier shrubs and numerous herbs. The Stewart Ismuc: forest is rich in cryptogamic life—.mosses, liverworts, ferns, and lichens abound everywhere. Ground orchids

and epiphyte orchids are numerous. Indeed, in an. area some 20yds square twelve species of orchid were collected by me this year, including Sarcochiuls Adversus, which ‘ would seem to have vanished from the'.neighbourhood of Dunedin. The white Enargea covers logs and banks with a thick carpet. Of some sixty-five ferns in the island, the more noticeable include the mam akti (Cyathca medullaris), . which treefern grows, only in. one small-valley, the slender . Dicksonia, . the _ thickstemmed '.Hematelia, and Dicksonia, fibrosa, the former with soft and tho latter with harsh fronds. The umbrella fern (Gleichcnia Cunninghamii) is now getting very rare. The bog umbrella fern and the remarkable unfernlike comb fern are still common in bogs, and the two coastal hard : ferns 1 (Blechnum durum and B. Banksii), with the coastal spleenwort, are equally Iso on the coastal banks. Filmy ferns abound, and at least four species of umbrella moss are met with in damp bush. Supplejack is very common, and clematis fairly common,, but lawyers arc less so than is usual on the mainland When in the south of tho Island, I climbed the Ecmarkables and also the. Frazer Peaks, locally christened “Gog and Magog,” and was able to see the sub-alpine bog meadows, which bear a strong superficial resemblance to those on Maun-, gatua, with some, plants added. Everywhere . the beautiful yellowflowered herbaceous Senecio Lyallii was in bloom, and a beautiful plant it is. Celmisia argentea and Clinearis ware both in bloom, and likewise Chri’sqbactron Gibbsu, a species of Maori onion of much more robust habit than, the Flagstaff plant. Donatia Cushions, a species of Forstera, with unusually large flowers, and two species of Phvllachne are four plants of this area all closely related. Veronica buxifolia grows here and there in this zone, and manuka, often prostrate, is likewise common in places. Bladderwort is very common, and likewise ono or other of four species of sundew. A very rigid plant growing in tufts her© and there in these meadows, and known as Danthonia pungens, is purely a Stewart Island plant. The Alpine bog meadow on Ilakiahua. at the head of Paterson’s Inlet, and over the greater mountain area, forms a practically continuous carpet or even turf. Everywhere the common Caxpha, a grass named in honour ol our patron (Ehrharta Thomson!), Donatia, Creholus, PJiyllachne, Astelia, ana Celmisia. longitolia seem to be constituent elements of this turf. Here and there our Muungutua Euphrasia (C Dyeri), | the trailing llonferous gentian (Gen- . tiana Griscbachii), or the dwarf Peuta. chondra may be noted in the north, I but I did not notice them in the south. Tho speargrass Aciphylla Trailii seems to be getting scarce. On Mount Anglem a small form ol mountain sheep (Raoulia Goyeni) forms' small cushions with' tho dwarf heath (Dracophyllum polituin). Indeed, near the summit there occurs an island of plants not found elsewhere on Stewart Diana. Turning to the bird hie, one is pleased to be able to record the presence still of numerous birds seldom or never seen on the mainland. The kaka still screeches its raucous notes, while tho tui in pleasing contrast may be seen or heard on every hand. The bollbird is present, but is less frequently seen. Both parakeets, the red-fronted and yellow-fronted, are common, their chatter being frequently heard, though the birds are concealed. At Pegasus we found the robin quite common, and here, too, wo had lots of fun chasing the tern birds, which, though they cannot fly, are expert dodgers. Wekas are common and are great favourites with the whalers at the Paterson Inlet station. Kiwis and crows , are present ion the island, while tomtits, fantails, and warblers are quite abundant. On tho most southerly beach on the island 1 found a redbill’s nest, with a fullgrown, partly-fledged chicken in occupation. Crouching in the middla of a clump of kelp, it was very inconspicuous. Quite a number of shaggeries were visited, and it is quite common for two species to breed in-the same shaggery. Nightly the morepork emits its doleful note, and daily tne long-tailed cuckoo its long-drawn screech. Tit© shining cuckoo seems much less common. I have been fortunate enougli to see bats flitting about at Halfmoon Ijay. Tho red-billed gull, penguins oc rock-hop-pers, the godwit, knot, mutton birds, and terns may all be seen in season at different localities on the island.