NEW ZEALAND FLORA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18850, 1 May 1923, Page 8

NEW ZEALAND FLORA.

TREES AND SHRUBS IN EXILE. A VISIT TO KEW GARDENS. ■CULTIVATION OF THE PHORMIUM TENAX. (I'hou Odb Own ./‘LONDON, March 17. Year by year in the old familiar streets we pass by the neighbours whom wo dare not salute nob speak to. Then one day we meet them in the Strand, beside the Scottish Lakes, or on the battlefields cf Flanders, and the mere fact that they, too, are iN’ew Zealanders provides a common bond of sympathy which breaks - down all the reserve which was inevitable and seemly in some dominion suburb. A process somewhat similar is applicable to oiir native trees and shrubs. We possess a mild affection for them in their native haunts, but when we meet an isolated specimen in a garden on the far side of the world we feel bound to* acclaim it as a long-lost friend. Though we knew it only by sight in the old days, no trouble is too great now to learn its namei its habits, and the history of its exile.

In an inconspicuous corner of a certain public garden in a south-east suburb of London there is a fine specimen of New Zealand flax (phormium tcuux). The gardeners themselves, do* not seem to know its origin. But to the few New Zealanders who are aware of its existence that plant is the most precious inmate of the gardens. Its immediate ancestors may have flourished in the swamps of Auckland province or in the gullies of Cashmere Hills, but it is much more likely that many generations before it have found a home in some sheltered bed in England. It is 134 years since the first flax seeds were brought from New /jealand by Sir Joseph Banks and successfully grown in Kew Gardens. 154 YEARS AGO. An account .of the early distribution of the 'plant from®Kow is given in the Botanical Magazine in 1852 and by that time it had proved its suitability for cultivation both in Inverness-shire and at Salcombe, in Devonshire, and .Sir William Hooker pointed out that “the south of Ireland would in all probability bo found to be well suited to its growth and increase." Sir Joseph Banks, too, in Cook’s first voyage, quoted in the Botanical Magazine, says of New Zealand flax that it “would certainly be a great acquisition to England, where it would probably thrive with very imle trouble, as it seems to be hardy, and to affect no particular soil; being found equally in Hill and valley, in the drjest mould and the deepest bogs. The bog. however, it seems rather to prefer, as near such places we found it to be larger than elsewhere.” Since these early efforts to spread a knowledge of New Zealand flax and its value as a commercial possibility little seems to have been done until the early years of this century, and even now only two or three pepple' are growing the plant with the hope of making it a paying proposition. Amongst these ;s Lord Ventry, of Burn ham, Dingle. Co. Kerry It was in 1919 that ho made an official report of his efforts. Since ihon Ireland has been in sucji a disturbed condition that it is unlikely that he has made much progress in his business. In 1914, 1915, and again in 1918 consignments of numerous named varieties were sent through the High Commissioner to the authorities at Kow. The last lot all arrived in good condition, and were sent to Laid Ventry for trial under conditions most likely to be favourable to their growth. LORD VENTRY’S EXPERIMENTS. Lord Ventry, in his report, stated that the common variety with drooping • leaves had been growing in Co. Kerry for 50 years, and near the sea coast it yielded a heavy crop. Ho cut 16 tons of the leaves m 191 Y for the Irish Paper Mills Company, and it was made into brown wrapping paper. Since 1914 ho had sown many thousands of plants "of other varieties, and they had all proved successful. “I am convinced,” he writes, “that the plant can bo profitably grown by the farmers on the. south-west coast of Ireland.” Several landowners on the west of Scotland have also been successful in growing the plant, and have reaped small crops which have been sold for binder twine. It is evident that any part of the coast of Great Britain or Ireland which is influenced by the Gulf Stream is capable of producing a commercial crop, but unless the land is rough or

swampy it would not pay a farmer toi develop the plant. Efforts to grow flax in the open at Kow have all proved failures owing l to the severe frosts. It is estimated that the plant can .stand 20 degrees of frost, but not more. Why; the isolated specimen in the south-east suburb should have prospered it is difficult to' say, Possibly the slightly elevated situation has bean accountable for } a not too severe cold. As members of the overseas forces well know, parts of Cornwall and Devon are suitable for growing New Zealand plants. At Torquay the sense of home was heightened by the cabbage trees {Cordyiine Australis) and the flax bushes growing round ihe esplanade there. The late Mr Itnys. formerly of New Zealand, who lived for many years near Falmouth, possessed a, garden that locally became • famous. Amongst other plants he had several fins specimens of totara, 25ft to 30ft high, besides a ether New Zealand' conifers and beeches. Ihe manuka (Leptospermu-m scoparium) grows as hjgh as 40ft, and the kowhai (sophora tetraptera), although of exceedingly slow growth, has reached soma 15ft to 20ft. Two good specimens of kowhai are to be seen growing in the open at XCew, oiiQ soitio iSft in height, wjbioh has hern’ there for 20 years, and another. 12ft in height. In Falmouth recently a new,avenue has been opened, and on cither side, cabbage trees have been planted. The 6000 trees have been raised by Mir Ernest Gill, of Falmouth, who is adviser to the council and has superintended the planting of what should be a beautiful and certainly uniaue avenue

‘ TOTARA AND KAURI PINE. As for Kew Gardens, one can spend an exceedingly pleasant hour or two renewing acquaintance with hundreds of old fr.onds. i hey are mainly within the shelter of the Temperate House, whose great dome is 70ft above the ground. The totara tree has now reached a height of 55ft, and the kauri pine a height of 60ft In a few years’ time their upward growth will doubtless have to be checked. ■ Cabbage trees,have grown 55ft in height but they are slender, irregular, and frugally crowned with foliage. The Norfolk Island pine, planted in 1846, and the Moreton Bay pine, planted in 1826, both beautiful trees, have also reached the limit of the glass bousa The rata is 30ft in height and growing luxuriantly, but it never flowers. In the Soilly Isles, however, the rata flourishes exceedingly out of doors and the inhabitants of those islands enjoy the beauty of its scarlet blooms. In the comfort of the glass mansion the nikau palms are growing with a luxuriance that is not known in New Zealand itself. Thousands of little seedlings are springing up beneath each tree. Tree ferns, too, are doing well. Of all the New Zealand trees there seems to be at least one specimen, She majority as yet youthful, but all vigorous in growth. Most of those may be grown outside in Cornwall, but not elsewhere in England. ORNAMENTAL SHRUBS. Nevertheless, there are numbers of shrubs which can stand the severe conditions of this climate. The olearia Haastii is one of the hardiest and flowers in numbers of gardens within a mile or two of St. Paul’s. It is readily reared from cuttings. Eight other varieties of olearia have been cultivated in England and thrive in sheltered spots. Fuchsia excorticate will flower iuj London, but the severer frosts out it down to the ground each winter. In Cornwall, h<svever, it will grow iijto a small tree. Oorokia cotoneqster. that strong, jagged bush growing on the mountains and the sandhills which may serve aa an impromptu couch on a summer afternoon, is not averse to the London climate. A bush has been growing for 20 years in the open at. _Kcw. Veronicas, in the multifarious varieties, stand the climate well, but they are shortlived plants. Senecio compartus, though rare in Now Zealand itself, may be grown out of doors hero, and the famous mutton bird leaves of Stewart Island (puheretaiko or Senecio rotundifolius) is also found ir. the ojsen. The ramanuna (Myrtus bullata) and the rohutm (Myrtus oboordata) have both' stood several winters outside at Kow, while there are a number of fine specimens of the former in several Cornish gardens. The reddish colouration of the leaves in winter makes this shrub a particularly desirable one to cultivate. _ The • hybrid Myrtus Ralphii is also growing outside at Kew in a ’ sheltered . position. Melioytua ramiflorus, more familiarly known as the mohoe, and the two members of the violet family, Hymenanthera obovata and hymenanthora crassifolia. and the dwarf broom, are four other shrubs to be seen in a sheltered garden. Finally there is to bo seen on a Kew rockery a fine specimen of the vegetable-sheep xßaoulia eximia), which has been thriving there for a number of years.