NEW ZEALAND PLANTS AND THEIR STORY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 14061, 16 May 1906, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND PLANTS AND THEIR STORY.

(By Dr L. COCKAYNE, Cor. F.B.S. Ed.) VT. ' (Copyright.) THE MEADOWS. MEADOWS IN GENERAL. When th© early settlers reached their Antipodean homo they must have been struck by the absence of groen fields gay Avith buttercups,, dairies, cuckooflowers, coltsfoot or o-xeyes, and would have laughed 1 at the idea of New Zealand meadows. To many, even yet, it may seem absurd to compare the tussock slopes with the emerald hillsides of Britain. As for wild flowers, there are some who remember regretfully those of the Motherland, and lament that their adopted home has nothing to offer in exchange for the cowslips, primroses, anemones, bluebells or heather of their youthful days. Bo all this as it may, New Zealand has plenty of natural meadows in the plant-geographical sense, if not in. that of our boyhood. It has also too, for those who will seek them, wild- flowers that can vie in beauty with those of any other region. Natural meadows are a distinct expression of climate and soil, and as stated in the . first article, were there no inhibitory circumstances, forest would cover the whole land. Such, however, exist, the most important of which are altitude and the nature of the soil. The tussock meadows of the Canterbury plain, of the tableland near Mount Ruapehu, and of the slopes of so many of our mountains are expressions of .these facts. So, too, are the Alpine meadows above the forest-line. In the wettest regions meadows are ■wanting except on the high mountains. In 'the drier parts, such aa eastern Hawke’s Bay, eastern and central Otago and the Canterbury plain, they are much in evidence, especially where the soil is stony. EVOLUTION OP A MEADOW. A very common feature of many parte of; New Zealand is a broad shingly river-bed, bounded on cither side by high terraces or sometimes filling up a narrow valley. Tim water of these rivers is not confined to one channel, but meanders in several narrow streams over the wide stony bed, which, in consequence, is quite dry in places, and ready for plant-colonists. These are not slow to avail themselves of the chance to “take up land,” and engage the wind or the birds to convey them to their new holdings, while some' even oomo by water. Amongst the earliest settlers are the willow-herbs, thanks to their light seeds furnished each with a tuft of hairs. Various species of Baoulia come in a similar manner, and large round, moas-liko cushions, or patches of silver and green, result. Lichens cover the stones with curious markings, and mosses spring up between them. As these earlier plants decay, humus is added to the silty,, sandy soil, and various drought-resisting shrubs put in an appearance, together with grass tussocks. Such slmijjg may remain quite isolated, and the tussock becomes dominant, in which case, its shelter will favour the settlement of many email herbaceous plants, including grasses, and a meadow will result. Or/ on the other hand, some condition 'may favour arborescent growth, a natural shrubbery of veronicas and oopromas mav appear, to be replaced finally by a beech forest. LOWLAND AND MONTANE TUSSOCK MEADOWS. ' • ; The tussock meadows of the montane regions and the plains are of great oom- [ mercial importance. They are, in fact, the home of those vast flocks and herds on which the prosperity of the colony'so largely depends. _Tho study of their plants is of high economic interest. Foremost come the grasses, replaced now in eo many cases by those of Europe, and by the host of introduced weeds. Some of these indigenous grasses are most valuable for stock. Tire tussocks belong especially to two species—Poa caaspitosa and Festuca ovina. As a food for stock the festuca is not’ of much moment, but Poa caespitcsa is of considerable value. The blue tussock (Poa Colemsoi) forms much smaller tussocks than either of the above. It is a most valuable economic grass. Another grass of great importance is the blue grass (Agropyrum scabrum), still more or less abundant in some localities. The various forms of Danthonia pilosa and D. eemiannularis are very important indeed, since they will tolerate burning and increase naturally upon the poorest ground, where they are probably of more value than any European grass that can be used. This must not lead the farmer to suppose that “ Danthonia,” as all these different forme are called in the papers and elsewhere, will ever replace ryegrass, cocksfoot or red clover in the better, land. There, undoubtedly, the European grasses surpass any of the native ones, but these latter owe their importance to their suitability for poor ground and high country. Some day it is to be hoped such experiments will be conducted here in. scientific plant breeding, as are being carried on in the United States, with regard to our indigenous economic plants, when, doubtless, many forms of our native grasses will be raised having special value for certain soils and positions. On the lower' meadows some plants with more or less conspicuous flowers are to be met with. Here are some of the buttercups (Ranunculus hirtus, R. multiscapus), the slender blue-bell (Wahlenbergia gracilis), the pretty Convolvulus erubesce-ns, the creeping Dichondra repens, the yellow Oxalis oorniculata, the small daisies (Lagenophora petiolata, L. pinnatifida) and the little Geranium miorophyllum. Certain shrubs belonging to the genus Carmichaelia occur on the very diyest meadows. Of these, the small C. nana, a diminutive, leafless shrub, an inch or two in height, forming largo patches and spreading by means of underground stems, is frequent. Taller Carmichaelias (native brooms) are: C. flagelliformis, C. Petriei, C. subulata, and others. It is quite a-dif-ficult matter to distinguish many of these species, the most characteristic feature usually being tire shape of the pod, THE MEADOWS OF THE HIGH MOUNTAINS. To see the really fine floral displays which New Zealand can offer, one must seek the high mountains in the summer time. Here the' meadows axe true natural gardens. But to 'view such in full perfection, those places must be visited to which no grazing animals have had access. The real sub-alpine and alpine meadow flora begins on the mountains near the East Cape, and extends over the high summits to the hills foaming the southern part of Stewart Island. _ The South Island ranges are much richer in species than those of the North Island, but the closeness of growth in many places on the mountains of the latter make "up for this difference. The mountains of Nelson, both east and west, are very rich in alpine plants and contain most of the North Island species, together with come peculiar to themselves, and a large percentage of these found further to the south. To the east the Kaikonra Mountains form a small bub distinct district, having some special societies and . a number of peculiar plants, of which the remarkable Helichrysiim coralloides and a veronica growing on the face of solid

rocks (V. rupioola) may bo mentioned. Proceeding southwards, the Alps of Canterbury and Westland, crowned in many instances with perpetual ice and snow, form a barrier between the northern and southern alpine plants, but invaded on its borders by both, while at the same time having plants peculiarly its own, as e.g.. Ranunculus Godleyamis, Helichrysum pauciflorum, Myosotis decora. The Otago alpine plants differ considerably as to species from these of Canterbury and Westland, and still more from those of Nelson and the North Island. Fcouliar epeeiesi are; Veronica Hoctori, Celmieia Petriei, Aciphylla simplex, Ranunculus Matthewsii, etc. Finally, Stewart Island and the mountains of Southland have much in common. If® foreign botanist, conversant with the alpine plants of other regions, were to visit a high mountain meadow in New Zealand, he would bo surprised at the prevalence of white and yellow flowers, and the almost entire lack of red© and blues. His eye would encounter no blue gentians, no panic primulas. He would be less amazed at seeing plant-forms very similar to those of other alpine regions, yet bearing quite different flowers to his old acquaintances, i.e., belonging to other families. This latter - fact he would find an admirable illustration of the phenomenon, that similar conditions evoke similar life-foams even in regions widely remote. As for the prevalence of white and yellow flowers, he would possibly have no suggestion to offer of any moment beyond that the white* might be adapted for fertilisation at night-time by moths, and that yellow is a most frequent colour amongst flowers everywhere. But if "there is some monotone as to the colour of our alpine flowers, there is none with regard to their foam. The herbaceous plants of the European Alps usually die to the ground yearly, whereas those of New Zealand are mostly evergreen. The speargrasses (Aciphylla) are of the Yucca-form. Some are frequently cultivated in European gardens, but others still more handsome are unknown there. Aciphylla Coleusoi var. conspioua derives its varietal name from the broad , band of orange down the centre of each leaf-segment, which renders it an. especially striking plant. Aciphylla Monroi, growing a few inches high out of a ’ face of rock, looks not unlike a pigmy palm. A. Dobsoni has loaves of the most intense' rigidity. The ©A-ebrights (Euphrasia) are real alpine gems. Euphrasia Monroi has rather big flowers, considering the size of the plant, white with a yellow eye; E. Cockayniana is yelloAv ] E. cuncata grows at'least a foot ./tall, and is a most beautiful feature" of Mount Egmont and other- North Island mountains. Other pretty plants of this genus are E. Cheeeemannii and E. Zealandica. The eyebrights are in part parasites, living attached to the roots of grasses. This habit render’s them exceedingly difficult to'cultivate. To Ourisia, a genus belonging exclusively to South America, New Zealand and Tasmania, belong perhaps 1 the most charming of our plants. Ourisia macrophylla of the North Island, and 0. maorccarpa, of the South, are the tallest of the New Zealand species, and exceedingly ’ handsome plants. 0. Cockayniana looks rather like a stunted form of the latter, and forms large patches ou the wetter mountains of Canterbury and Westland. 0. eaespitosa, creeping over stony ground, is. in early summer,, a sheet of lovely blossoms. Also very beautiful are 0. eessiliflora. 0. glandulosa and 0. prorepens. “Eyes blue as the blue forget-me-sings Tennyson, and the more prosaic modiste calls a certain silk “ forget-me-not ” blue.” And yet New Zealand’s forget-me-nots behave with antipodean topsy-tnrveynes's, and produce not blue but yellow fkn.vers! Can “ Guide ” be more of a botanist than her usual writings lead ns to suppose, and. have had cur alpine meadoAv plant in_ her mind Avhen speaking of a certain lady she mentions, “ the treacherous gleam in her forget-me-not eyes”? Some of the yellow forget-me-nots, which have their home in dim river gorges or on wet, shady rocks, are of large size, and one is rather bronze coloured than yelloAv. Of all our plants, the' buttercups deserve mentioning. Of these there are quite a number, and they, are far and away the finest buttercups on earth. The mountain.,lily (Ranunculus Lyallii) is their queen. This world-famed plant raises great leaves from its very thick root-stock, each with a blade shaped like a saucer, sometimes more than six inches in diameter, and a stout stalk a - foof. or more in height, inserted in the middle of the blade, "and lifting it high from the ground. Excepting in the smaller R. Baneri, of South ' Africa, suen leaf-form is unknown the buttercup family.- In late November, December and early January, R. Lyallii puts forth a very, tall stem, bearing numbers of blossoms of snowy whiteness,' each as big as a fiA r e-6hilling piece, aiid frequently more than thirty on one stalk. To "behold this noble plant, an acre at, a time in full bloom, is the sight of a lifetime to a lover of the beautiful. Ranunculus Godleyanns, a _ yeUow buttercup, is nearly as striking, and so is the more northern R. insignis. The white R. Buchanani, of the Otago Mountains,is- also splendid-, and mention must be made of the more recently named R. Matthevnsii, Avhich Avorthily bears th© name of its energetic discoverer. Frequently generic names are hideous, but in Celmisia we- have one dainty enough to take a foremost place among those feminine floral appelations, now so popular. And avoll does a race of plants so beautiful deserve a fitting title. On every mountain side, at all seasons, it is the Celmisias which give the characteristic stamp to the meadows, filling the air "with aromatic fragrance and delighting the eye with their beauty of form or abundance of flowers.- With one exception, all. are true New Zealanders, and are probably a remnant of the long-vanished meadow plants of sunken southern lands. Two special classes occur—those with fine upright rosettes, and those which trail over a considerable area, forming round mats. Some, again, have quite small rosettes and form dense, silvery cushions, such as Celmisia sassiliflora, C argontea. The most -handsome of the Celmisias is, perhaps. C. coriacca, a plant Avith large, stiff/ silvery leaves and flower heads several inches in diameter. Se-necio soorzonerioldes, notwithstanding its being burdened Avith its second name, is one of th© most ehoAvy of Noav Zealand plants. The ' author will never forgot the meadows near the source • of the river. Ponlter gleaming like. Gnoavfields with the multitttclos of ite pure blossoms. Frequently the meadow ij fa**?" *

with veronicas and other shrubs. Large breadths of an Alpino Astelia are often present, also tall tussock grasses such as Daathonia Raoulii and D. Cunninghamii. ROCK AND SHINGLE-SLIP VEGETATION. The rocks of the alpine summits weathering away, and the rain not being sufficient to bear all the debris into the valleys, an enormous quantity of angular stones collects on the mountain ei-dca in many places, which may form steep slopes for thousands of feet. As the climber wearily ascends these :l shinglewslips,” as they are called, progress is slow, the stones constantly slip beneath his feet, and slide down the slope. No place could, seem more unlikely to support vegetable life. It is iu truth au alpino desert! Yet many of the meadows must have begun their career as shingle-slips, and all transitions may be noted from the one to the other. To the shingle-slip proper a most peculiar series of plants belongs. They have several characteristics in common. All have long roots and are low-grow-ing. Many are succulent. Most are of a similar colour to the shingle. Some have very leathery loaves, and one, at any rate, is covered with a most woolly mass of hairs. These shingle-slips become burning hot in the sunshine, and yet on the evening of the same day may be icy cold. At some distance below the surface the stones are wet. These are a few of the plants:—A stiff-leaved grass (Poa sclerophylla), , a buttercup (Ranunculus Haastii), a plant of the carrot family (Ligusticum carnosulum), a daisy, jet black, and with stamens like golden pin-heads (Cotula atrata), one of the pink family (Stellaria Boughii), the curious and sweet-scented pincushion plant (Notothlaspi rosulatum), and a fleshy-leaved : lobelia (L. Rough ii). On the ehingle-elipe the wonderful vegetable-sheep are encountered. These grow, not on the shingle, but on the rooks, which the stones have nearly buried. Largo examples form great hummocks, six feet long by three feet across, or even more. Really they are shrubs of the daisy family, and are provided with a tmek, stout, woody main stem and strong roots, which pass far into the rock-crevices. Above, the stems branch again and again, and towards their extremities are covered with small woolly leaves, packed as tightly as possible. Finally, stems, leaves and all are pressed into a dense, hard, convex mass, making an excellent and appropriate seat for a_ wearied botanist. Within the plant is a peat made of its rotting leaves and branches, which holds water like a, spbnge, and into which the final branchlets put their roots. Thus the plant lives in great measure on its own decay. The vege-table-sheep are not inaptly named, for at a distance a shepherd might be misled. The two principal sheep- are Haasti.a pulvinans and Raoulia eximimia. Before concluding!' the New Zealand edelweiss must be mentioned, of which ther;e are two Helichrysum grandiceps and H.. Leontopodium. Both are exquisite and surpass thejr celebrated Swiss namesake, Leontopodium alpinum. Perhaps H. Leontopodium, when in full bloom, as it may bo seen in late January on the Tararua and Ruahine mountains, is the most beautiful plant in New Zealand.