ENGLISH VISITOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23320, 13 April 1939, Page 3

ENGLISH VISITOR

INTEREST IN BOTANY DOMINION'S PLANT LIFE IMPRESSIONS DURING TOUR After having travelled up the East Coast to Auckland, returning to Wellington via the West Coast, the party of 18 South African and British tourists are now visiting the South Island. One of their number, Mrs. E. Rothwell, of Bournemouth, England, takes a keen interest in botany, and during her visit to New Zealand is studying the plant life of the country. "Everything I have seen so far as the ferns are concerned is quite different from what I have been accustomed to in Great Britain," said Mrs. Rothwell. "I have been interested particularly in the great amount of bracken I have seen in the North Island; it is a more beautiful bracken than that which grows in Britain." Mrs. Rothwell said she had learned the names of trees that were new to her, although she was hoping to see something more of New Zealand's trees on her visit to the South Island. Mrs. Rothwell's only criticism concerned the dust that had been experienced on some of the roads during the trip, which is being made by cars, and also the way thistles are allowed to grow in some parts of the country. She said that they had passed laud on which a great deal of thistle was growing. It was a pity, she thought, because if it got a hold it would be very difficult to eradicate. Referring to the Maoris at Rotorua, Mrs. Rothwell said she had been impressed by their intelligence and their appearance. She would treasure the memory of her contact with the Maori race; on her return to England it would £>e something to look back upon and talk about to her friends with pleasure.