NATURE NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16847, 11 May 1918, Page 1 (Supplement)

NATURE NOTES.

ST J. DBUICMOND. V.Z..5., *2.3. Particulars of the weed, mentioned by a Whangarei correspondent a few weeks ago, have been kindly supplied by Mr. R. Wright, Sea Crook Avenue, New Lynn. This plant is not found in the South Island, bii? is seen on some North Island roadsides, and is abundant in the Auckland province. It has extended to some of the islands, notably the Little Barrier. Mr. Wright states that in many places the seed vessels, . when soft and ripe, are gathered by residents, who make from them a writing ink, which is a good substitute for the common ink. It is this use that has given to the plant its popular name. He accounts for the wide distribution of the plant ,in the North Island by the fact that wild birds feed on the seeds. He further states that the plant is a native of Western America, and in botanical literature is Phytolacca decan dra, a sub-species of Phytolacca iodica, the soft-wooded tree of South America, known to the natives of that country as " om, cu." The plant found in New Zealand, and known, here as the ink-weed, is known locally in America as the pokeroot, on account of the sturdy, parsnip-like root • growth, which drives deeply down into the ground wherever the plant finds a suitable place. Mr Wright believes that it was introduced into New Zealand as an American novelty which was represented by the clusters of dense black seed vessels, and now it is becoming a pest.. He has added to his kindness by offering to help readers of this column who wish to know countries from which our exotic field plants originally came.

Mr. J. G. Poynter, Cheltenham Beach, Devonport, lived for several years at Utaki, and, following a note by Mr. W. Best on shellfish there, he states that he was informed by Mr. H. Edgar, of Otaki, that in former times Maoris fought for possession of beaches where toimangas were found. Near the Waikawa- Stream, on the beach north of Otaki, and towards Otaki, there are heaps of pipi shells close to burnt stones, used by Maoris years ago. Although toimanga shells are almost quite absent from those heaps, pipi shells are very plentiful. Mr. Poynter, when he was in Otaki, did not- see Maoris with pip is, and he saw only a few of those molluscs on the beach. On the sandy banks of the harbour at Nelson he obtained the pipi and the cockle. close together. * At Cheltenham Beach there are few pipis, but many cockles. Other shellfish are found in fairly large quantities. Maoris nowadays do not seek much for pipis there, but often go across to Bays-i water, and from there by tram to the rocks at Milford Beach, for "sea-eggs," which seem to be plentiful.

There seems to be some confusion in the use of the word pipi. The true pipi, Which is very common, is elongated, has a smooth shell, and is like a clam. .It is found in sandy mud , or sandbanks between tide marks. It belongs exclusively to New Zealand. The first specimen knoWn to science was taken to England by Captain Cook, and was named . Mesodesma austral© by Gomelin, a German naturalist, nearly 130' years ago. The Maoris, also know it as kokota. It is an ancient type, and fossils of it have been found belonging to the Miocene and Pliocene periods of - the Cainozoic era, when man first appeared on the earth. The rounded, ribbed shell also, is called pipi, hut it is more like a cookie, which is a better popular name for it. Maoris call it pipi, or huai. i Conchologically it is Chi one, Stutchburyi. This shellfish prefers pure mud to sand. In the Auckland Islands it attains a great size, and, has a heavy, chocolate-coloured shell. In former days in New Zealand Maoris— women, and children ' together— into the shallow water over the mud-fiats and filled flax* baskets with cockles. These have a delicate taste and make a good dish. They are best prepared by being boiled in water until their shells are wide open. They then may be served in their shells. Early settlers in coastal districts occasionally were grateful for supplies of both cockles and pipis.

The mollusc that lives in the paua shell is relished by Maoris, but its taste, usually, is somewhat coarse for Europeans, to whom it is known as the mutton-fish. The shell formerly was used by. Maoris for ornamenting tneir carvings. In some places the paua is very plentiful,' but . its habits are different from those of the pipi and the cockle; it favours rocky i shores, and seldom is found above low-water mark. The first specimen of the paua was taken to England by Captain Cook. It bears the name HaKotis iris. .The beautiful tints : of the shell are caused by tiny grooves on the surface, which decompose the rays of light as they reflect them. These grooves are so small that there are more ' than ouuO in one inch. The smaller species of this shellfish, with the surface of the shell very corrugated, is Haliol.is australis, and, in Maori nomenclature, karariwha. The common mussel, known to Maoris as kuku, seems to move from one district to .another without any apparent cause. At Tauranga, many years ago, mussels became plentiful on mud-banks between the town and sea, where, previously, they were rare. Our most beautiful molluscs indubitably are our three species of argonauts. The largest of these, eight inches and a-half long and five inches and a-half broad, has been reported in- New Zealand only from the Great Barrier Island and Portland Island. -It has been reported also from Brazil, the Indian Ocean, and the Cape of Good Hope. Argonauts love the warm tropical or semi-tropical eeas, and no species have been reported from the South Island of New Zealand. We have no cones and no cowries, but our chitons are plentiful and handsome.

Two moths, caught in a flower and held prisoners until they died, have been sent to me by Mr. H. L. Todhurst, of JJ'alebda, Haapai, "Tonga. Mr. Todhurst's account of this affair is as follows:—"The flower is long and thin, with a very narrow opening. Into this the moth had inserted its proboscis, and seemed to be incapable of withdrawing, and it died there, where it had sought food- Eight moths, all of the same species, were caught in this way by the flowers of one clump of the plant.. The flowers have a very strong, sweet smell. The plant grows much in the same way as the carina, and its leaves somewhat resemble the leaves of that plant. The beautiful creamy flowers grow in a bunch at the end of a stem, coming out of pockets in a club-ehaped arrangement." ' Mr. C. W. Mellsop, Paimerston North, has sent me a handsome moth caught near the Hokowhitu Lagoon; and Mr. C. H. Coghlan, Victoria Valley, Mangonui, eggs of the native snails. * Writing from the school at Manatvaru, Mr. J. J. Keaney states that 24 years ago. when at Whangae, near Kawakawa, Bay of Islands, kiwis were very plentiful.. He caught several, but did not find any nests. One afternoon, when riding into Kawakawa, he overtook a Maori, , who had a kiwi's egg in a kit. The egg was about five inches and a-half long. The Maori seemed to place a high value on it, as be refused to sell it at any price. IHe informed Mr. Keaney that a female kiwi laid only one egg "in her lifetime, a fiction which does not seem •to have j made its .way even into Maori legends* - i r '