ART ALBUM OF NEW ZEALAND FLORA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 8916, 3 December 1887, Page 1 (Supplement)

ART ALBUM OF NEW ZEALAND FLORA.

We have received Part I. of this work, issued by Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Featon. It amply redeems the promise made in the prospectus of furnishing pictures of the most characteristic forms of our New Zealand flora, with adequate botanical descriptions both of the genera and species. Both the letterpress and the engrarings are beautifully done. The part now issued contains the following amongst other pictures : — Puawananga (Clematis indivisa), pikiarero (Clematis hexasebala), Kannuculus Lyallii, the korikori (Rannuculus insignia), Kannuculus plebeius, Galtba Norse Zalandise, Arimya axillaris, Cardamine hirsuta, Oraya Norse Zelandice, Viola filicaulis, Melicytus ramiflorus (ninahinn), kowhiwhi (Pittosforum tecnifolium), karo (Pittosporum crassifolium), tarata (Pittosporum eugenoides), piripiri (Pittosporum cornifolium), boru (Hoheria populuea. As an example of the descriptions we quote the " Whau" or " Hanama" ; —"This very beautiful small tree is peculiar to the Northern Island of New Zealand, but it is not common. It is chiefly met with on the outskirts of low laud forests, and fringing deserted clearings. Its attractive, large, bright green foliage, and handsome white flowers with yellow eye, arrest the attention of the most unappreciativo traveller, and marks the forest scenery with a beauty that is rare and exquisite. The tree is small, scarcely ever exceeding ten or twelve feet in height, and is admirably suited to become a magnificent addition to our gardens and shrubberies. The woody brandies are used by the Maoris as floats for their fishing nets, and in the construction of small rafts employed by them in laying out thoir crayfish pots. Owing to the extreme lightness and buoyancy of the wood, the tree is known to the colonists as the ccrk tree. The foliage is greedily eaten by cattle, and possesses highly nutritive properties. The entelea blossoms in the month of November, when both seed capsules and flowers may be found on the tree at the same time. The capsule, being armed with rigid bristles or spikes nearly an inch long, presents quite a formidable appearance, and makes handling appear rather hazardous. The cut blossoms are difficult to preserve fresh, even for a few hours, as the thick mucilaginous sap exudes rapidly from the dismembered part, so that it fairly bleeds to death. The only method by which it has been found possible to preserve tho blossom, even for a short time, is to insert tho stem, as soon as cut, into » potato perforated to receive it; thus the flow of sap is arrested, and the life of the branch thereby prolonged. The plant is very delicate when young, and when removed from the shelter of its bush home. When introduced into gardens protection must be afforded it against Iroat, or its foliage will suffer, and it will die. Young plants can be obtained from the nurserymen in the Northern principal towns ; and to those who are admirers of a handsome shrub, we would Bay by all means introduce the Whau into your gardens, the beautiful begonia-looking leaf of which is, as our pkte pourtrays, a pleasure to the eye. In some districts this tree is known as tho j Whau, and in others it is called the hauma." I