SCROPHULARINEA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2507, 9 April 1902, Page 10

SCROPHULARINEA.

This is one of the most extensive natural orders — found in all quarters of the globe. The name is derived from a disease, and the genus to which all the New Zealand species belong is termed figwort— not that the fig tree is included or has any relation, it being of quite a different order, but because the plants were coiuideied by herbalists as being an efficacious cuio for certain diseases. Ihe fig also possesses the reputation of moro than healing \irtue, for we read that a king of Israel was not only cured of his boils by a poultice of figs, but also thereby got ten years added to the span of his existence. In our flora we have ten species of figwort—two of which alone merit special jiotice — growing naturally. Others under cultivation, such a3 calceolaria and mimulus, or musk), have in their varieties a high standing. Of both these we have representatives in our catalogues; others we have not. such j as digitalis (the foxglove), antirrhinum (the snap-dragon), familiar in every garden-, and, among the wild flowers, the speedwell, which gives the name to the species, and is u=ed . by botanists as an illustration, and of whk-h . there are nearly a score of varieties in the . British flora, many of which are now intro- . duced, and have taken permanent possession — duckweed, for instance. The first genus to which attention will be given is OCHISIA, a. small one, it i* true, but a very beautiful ono, confined to the Alp=> in Tasmania, New Zealand, the Andes of South America, and Fuego. Tlit derivation of the name is obscure, and it i-> generally accepted a» meaning a beneficial breeze, from their being natives of mountain regions. Pobsjbly this was the idea dominating the author's mmd whf.ii he conferred it. Tliere an* six varieties recorded pertaining to this colony — rare, widely interspersed, and mostly re-idents of the higher region*. The North Island is t'^e sole happy possessor of one of the varieties, diseoveiecl by and named after Colen°o, its residential aiea •being the Kuahino Range and Lake Taupo, although Travers claims its discover}' in al-o. Some of the v.uietics aie found at Cha'ky O.i\ , Mi'fnrd Sound, and in the Lakvj tlisti ict = . Specimen-- are r.ot easily obtained, and £ o far a- can bt- learned they are not easily induced to submit to cuknation. VEROXICA. The other and more important joins ha< ±he name veronica conferred on it by the great Swede Linnaeus, and no doubt lie had sufficient reason for so naming it. It is a eweet-sounding name, and mayhap many have associations there anent. To the ' writer, it calls to memory a sprightly Irish girl who gloried in the appellation Veronica ■Patricia Marie Scolastica Farrell, whom he knew in his teens, when susceptibilities were . far more tender than now ; but, according to the legend, it pertained originally to a Jewish maid who, lending her handkerchief to wipe the sweat from the suffeier's brow, and afterwards using it for the same- purpose t>n the Emperor Caesar himself, cured him of his malady, and for this good deed was canonised as a saint, havine a st>2f»ial day sot

apart in the calendar for her glorification. The kerchief was for ages preserved as a holy relic. Of the genus figwort there are numerous varieties indigenous to this colony, which give New Zealand the palm over any other part of the habitable world for this particular plant. The Natives gave it the name of koromiko-taranga, this name, accoiding to Colenso, embracing all the varieties, the Maoris not being so very particular in this re6pect as their successors are. The meaning of the term in our more prosaic diaiect is : Koro, a diety ; miko, a palm; taranga. the mother of a celebrated hero; the whole thus signifying the branch of peace twixt God and man. Could anyrhiug be more significant? No doubt Colenso knew better than any other resident, as he arrived in the colony before it was regularly founded, made the language of the Natives his particular study, and vva* heart and ?oul a thorough botanist, a« the labours I.c has left behind him, although not completed, amply testify. That tte Maori had an intelligent appreciation of the qualities of a plant before conferring on it a name is apparent to anyone investigating the subject. He knew the "virtues and vices" of pac-h, and in hia own tongue gave a name indicating the deserts, po that the whole race could understand — not burdening it with "jawbreakers." which make the sciences generally incomprehensible, if. not repugnant, to the ordinary ruu of folk. At the first New Zealand Exhibition, held in Dunedin in 1864. Dr Colenso contributed an essay on the botany of the Noith Island, which was printed and circulated for the commissioner? by Messrs Fergusson and Mitchell, and which, though rare enough nowadays, contains as much useful and interesting information as the more elaborate and expensive treatises which have emanated from the press at the expense of the Government. More precise definitions, both for scientific and practical u?e, must be given, and education raised to the standard. Plants possess the innate power of evolving and changing under favourable circumstances, and all these should be observed and recorded for the benefit of succeeding generations. The veronica is oo vvc-IT known as to render a minute description superfluous. It^> distribution over the colony is universal. Skirting the seashore, fringing the forests, occupying open glades, scaling rocky fastnesses, peering through rhe snow wreaths, or luxuriating in lowly swamps, m one form or another, it is to ba found in abundance. So is it in stature : almost prostrate, from little more than om> inch, in some varieties, it towers to over 20 feet in others, all being inember3 of tho same family. The prevailing colour of the flower is blue, blended with scarlet or eiimson; in a few instances, white with a pink tinge. Easily propagated, often u^ed for edging in place of box. it looks and suit 3 equally well. For experiments in hybridising, it is very suitable, hence the great multitude of varieties now existing, one of the most attractive in foliage and flower having been produced by Mr William Martin, and named by him after his nursery, Fairfieldetioo: and recently Mr H. J. Matthews discovered a very dwarf, and what may be a new. variety amid the highlands of Otago. Well may our colony exult m being the native home of a plant hay ing aucli valuable attributes. : Before concluding, a few words may he said regnuling' the humble titular chief of the genus, the (Jermanclej Speedwell. That Hogg, tho Ettrick shepherd, had in his mind the azure blue of this plant may be accepted'when he wrote: When the blawnrt bears a pearl, And the daisy turns a pea; When the bonnie lenten gowan Has faulded tip her e'c. Our little plant speedwell answers fairly to his description, clo-ing at night so as to show only the pale and pearly side of its bright petals, and looking, through its tiny small bore, "a pearl rather than a flower. The medicinal virtues are also i-et forth by Culpapper in his " Herbalisr." published in 1624, wherein he says: If himnles were more in use men's bodies would be far better in health than they are now, or shall be. if the College of Physicians can help it. The rrutii i«. tin? little herb Speedwell) is of a fine tooling, drying quality, and an ointment or pla-ter of it might do a man a ' eourtpsie that hath got any hot. virulent sore "' -I M. I.