NATURALISTS FIELD CLUB

Evening Star, Issue 22524, 17 December 1936, Page 16

NATURALISTS FIELD CLUB

NATIVE BUSH The- Field Club concluded its outings for the year with two excursions to localities * where the native bush has been preserved. The first was to the property of Mr Dodds, jn Leith Valley, where in a sheltered valley running parallel with the road red pine, broadfeaf, white mapau or lemonwood, wineberry, and lancewood grow among a tangle of lawyer and supplejack, some of the latter still bearing crimson berries. The tall trees act'as hosts for the epiphytic orchids Sarcochilus adversus, with bunchy tufts of purplespotted leaves, waxy blooms of yel-lowish-green, and writhing aerial roots adhering to the bark: Aerina macronata, with creamy-yellow flowers and long grass-like foliage ; and the autumn flowering Aerina suaveolons, with shorter, stiffer foliage. Several varieties of orchids were found on the ground, while many beautiful ferns grew on the wooded slopes and by the creek bed. Delightful weather conditions prevailed for the final outing to Woodside Glen, where there was much of interest in the bush of the domain. The forest floor was covered with ferns, several species of Asplenium and Blechnnm being noted ; while the single crepe fern, Leptopteris hymenophylloides, was also abundant. Logs and tree trunks were clothed with Polypodium diversifolium and Asplenium flaccidnm. Filmy ferns were plentiful, forming large patches on the ground and rocks and also on tree trunks, roots, and fallen logs. Pellaea rotundifolia was found on the hillside above the creek bed, and Polystichiim Richardi was plentiful in the more open spaces. Of special interest to the members was the visit to Ravenscliffe, the country home of Mr Irwin, associated with the early history of Otago as the Fulton homestead, and known to the younger generation as the “ Location ” in the first New Zealand talkie ‘ Down on the Farm.’ ft is a charming spot, with an old world air of peace, running stream, paddocks under cultivation, stud stock, modern farm amenities—a peaceful haven where the hand of the vandal has been stayed and where the beautiful native, bush exists in its virginity.