ROMANCE OF THE NEW ZEALAND FLORA.

Otago Witness, Issue 3555, 2 May 1922, Page 59

ROMANCE OF THE NEW ZEALAND FLORA.

No. 111. MR T. F. CHEESEMAN, F.L.S., AND DR L. COCKAYNE, F.R.S., Ph.D. By Sib George Fenwick. Of Mr T. F. Cheeseman, F.L.S., it is not an easy matter to obtain from his '“Manual” any reference to himself which will assist in recording the great value of his services to botanists and those of the public who have had occasion to call upon him for information. He modestly says of himself in the preface to the "Manual” : “I do not propose to say anything in regard to my own researches into the flora, beyond stilting that they have extended continuously from the year XBTO to the present time, and include an examination of almost the whole colony, from the Kermadec Islands and the North Cape to Otago. 'A list of my papers O'l botanical subjects will be found in Mr Hamilton’s Bibliography, Printed in Yol. XXXYI of the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute (pp. 342-72).” The Bibliography referred to shows that Mr Cheeseman had, prior to 1904, contributed to the Transactions no less than 43 articles on botanical matters. The information contained in these papers was the result of widespread travelling throughout the colony and in some of the outlying islands—the' Three Kings and the Kermadecs, —and bears high testimony to the splendid work of Mr Cheeseman in the scientific realm which he has so long adorned. Of his “Manual of the Flora of .New Zealand” it is hardly necessary for me to write. It is a text book of the very greatest value to anyone in this dominion who takes an interest in its botany, and no work of the kind has been, and continues to be, so largely consulted. The many additions that have" been made to the flora of the dominion since the “Manual” was published have rendered a new edition necessary, and Mr Cheeseman has been engaged in the preparation of this for some time past. Its publication is looked forward to with deep interest, and it will prove of great use to scores of people throughout-the dominion who take practical interest in its flora. The book will be a fitting copestone to the patient and valuable labours of a distinguished scientist, whose name will live for all time in the scientific world not only of this land, but of the central domains of science in Great Britain the Continent, and other lands. * * * * Leonard Cockayne in his early days was a teacher under the Otago Education Board, and while stationed at Allanton in the Jaien was led to the study of botany by the perusal of a book on New Zealand ferns Circumstances enabled him to leave the teaching profession, and he settled m Christchurch. In pursuit of his botanical studies, which soon became a hobby with him. and which he followed with characteristic energy, he started a collection of native plants in a small property he acquired in the southern alpine district. W hen Dr Diels published ~ his paper on the botanical aecology of Now Zealand in 1896, much of his information and material* was derived from Mr Cockayne, w ho had travelled extensively * in the Canterbury Alps. This branch of biological work, which deals with the habits, modes of life, relation to their surroundings, and distribution of organisms, was new to British botanists, and Mr Cockayne was practically the first to apply "’it, though his example has been greatly followed since Ilis first paper on a botanical subject was on the freezing aljiine plants, and it appeared in the "Transaction of the New Zealand Institute” in 1597. This was followed by three valuable and original papers “On the seedling forms of New Zealand Phanerogams and their development,” in which, among others, he discusses the development and origin of the species of veronica. His first oecological paper, read in 1889, was “Plant Geography of the Waimakariri River Basin,” and it was followed by many others which dealt with a large portion of the country. Altogether, he lias contributed some 35 papers to the Transactions of the Instiute, has produced several important, botanical surveys and reports for the Government, and has published the most interesting book ever written on New Zealand botany—“ New Zealand Plants and Their Story.” The first edition appeared in 1910, and the second -much enlarged and well illustrated

—in 1919. A further great work on New Zealand botany, the manuscript of which was sent to Munich in Bavaria before the war, has just recently been published, though not available yet for New Zealand readers. The University of Munich granted Mr Cockayne the honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1903, while he received the greatest distinction open to naturalists in the British Empire by being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1911. LOCAL COLLECTORS AND THEIR TREASURES. TIIE LATE MR H. J. MATTHEWS, MR J. W. MTNTYRE, AND DR HUNTER During the time the late H. J. Matthews occupied the position of head of the Forestry Department of the dominion, his interest in its native flora, early implanted in his nature, increased and developed. He made constant excursions to* the mountains and forest areas of both Otago and Canterbury, accompanied by his faithful private gardener, Mr J. W. MTntyre, who had been brought up and trained as a practical gardener by Mr Henry Matthews’s father, Mr George Matthews, of the Hawthorn Hill Nurseries, Mornington. The collections made by Mr Matthews and Mr MTntyre were planted In the grounds of Mr Matthews’s mother, Mr George Matthews having died many years before. The plants in the shrubbery, borders, and in the rockery which had been constructed for their reception, were zealously eared for, and the large collection of veronicas which had been got together formed a specially valuable feature of the whole. After Mr Matthews’s death and that of his mother, the house and the portion of the property in which the native plants were located passed into the hands of Dr Hunter, who took a warm interest in the native-plant treasures he had acquired. Mr MTntyre’s services were retained, and needless to say under hia assiduous care and that of Dr Hunter, the collection increased from the accretions of their botanising expeditions and the skilled propagation of the rarer plants. The veronicas received their full share of attention, and selections from them have time and again been exhibited at the Dunedin Horticultural Association’s shows. The late Mr Matthews, and his skilled ce-adjutor Mr MTntyre, . have been instrumental in fostering a taste in recent years for the cultivation of those of our native plants which are suitable for rockery and shrubbery and flower border. Contemporaneous with their efforts, however, in this part of New Zealand have been, those of other enthusiasts, among whom may be placed in the forefront Mr Poppelwell and Mr Speden, of Gore, and Messrs Hart and Dat'ton, of Lawrence, the latter two gentlemen confining their work entirely to gathering together what it may safely be affirmed is the finest and most complete collection of the genus veronica to be found in New Zealand. Mr W. A. Thomson, of Half-way Bush, is another intelligent enthusiast in the same field, and in the charming grounds of the family home there are to be found many interesting and attractive forms of cur native vegetation. MR POPP ELITE LL AND MR SPEDEN. I have already mentioned Mr Poppelwell and Mr Speden, who have both been industrious collectors in the Otago and Southland mountains. Recently I had the pleasure of paying a visit to their respective gardens and of inspecting their treasures. Mr Poppelwell’s rockery contained many interesting plants—celmisias, veronicas, and aciphyllas predominating. Mr Speden was absent on one of his favourite excursions—this time far afield: no less than to the valley of the. Holly-ford, in that little frequented bush-clad region which stretches away to the West Coast traversed by tha famous expedition of the late Mr Vincent Pyke in the early goldfields days. Mr Poppelwell courteously undertook the duty of showing our party over Mr Speden.’s grounds and acting in the capacity of expositor of the wonderful collection of plant life there to be seen. We judged it to be among the most, interesting collection of native plants of the smaller types that is to be found in any of the public or private gardens in New Zealand. Its owner has demonstrated what an added charm may be given to the public and private gardens of the dominion bv a cultivation of the taste for our native plants, prominent among which may .be placed for private gardens the smaller kinds of veronica®, ihe various species of celmisias, the ranunculi, curisias, aciphyllas, etc. I shall not readily forget the pleasure given to me by this visit to Gore and the inspection of the plant collections of the two gentlemen who have largely helped to awaken, an interest, in the indigenous flora to be found oil the slopes of the mountains of this part of the dominion. PUBLIC SPIRITED WORK OF MR IT. HART AND MR 11. L. DALTON. SPLENDID VERONICA BEDS AT WETHERSTONES. And now let me pay tribute to the fine work that has been performed by two gentlemen who have for the past seven years been engaged in gathering from all parts of the Dominion, and cultivating a collection of veronicas which may now be said to include specimens of practically every species of the genus that has been found in New Zealand from the period of Darwin’s visit to the present day. Messrs H. Hart and H. L. Darton, of Lawrence, began their commendable and public-spirited work in 1915. They were led to it primarily by a conversation between Mr H. Hart and tire late Mr Peter Barr (the wellknown member of the London firm of Barr and Sons) when on a visit to the Dominion

some years since. After expressing his unqualified admiration for the New Zealand flora on account of its intensely interest-

ing though puzzling variety of form, he concluded by asking Mr Ilart why Now Zealand peoiile planted their gardens with nothing but. “imported” bushes. Mr Hart mentioned this conversation to Mr H. Dartort, and these gentlemen decided to work together to see what could be done to create a more general interest in our native flora. They felt, also, that if something were not done soon many varieties of the New Zealand plants would disappear owing to the ravages of fire and their destruction by sheep and rabbits. The Government of New Zealand had made extensive arrangements for the conservation of New Zealand fauna by setting aside large areas for its preservation. Why might not something be done in a similar manner for our native flora? They felt that with a little

extra care and trouble most .of the New Zealand genera could be transplanted from their natural habitat, and grown more cir less successfully in a new environment. The genus selected by them for a trial was the Veronica, owing to the fact that, it is by far the largest genus of our flowering plants. They procured a copy of Mr T. F. Cheeseman’s “ Manual of the New Zealand Flora” and set to work, and the result of the-ir labours, extending over seven years, is now in evidence at Wetherstones, where almost all the species mentioned in the Manual can be seen settled down in their new homes, and growing} with hardly an exception, quite luxuriantly. It was known to them that a fair number of species were growing in several of the public gardens, and a ready response by the curators at Queenstown, Timaru, Oa-maru, Dunedin, Invercargill, Christchurch, Wellington, and Gore was made to their request for cuttings of these. As a matter of fact, the first cuttings for their collection came from the curator of the Christchurch Gardens. Of course, many of these were unnamed, or wrongly named, but a specimen of each in flower and seed was sent on to the original collectors for their identification, and F. G. Gibbs, AY. Townson, H. Hill, Dr Petrie, Dr L. Cockayne, and T. F. Cheeseman assisted them materially. Then a visit from Dr Cockayne to the plantation at Wetherstones cleared up many doubts as to the correctness of the classification.

The next, step was to seek the co-opera-tion of any who had veronica plants in their private gardens. Dr Irwin Hunter (who secured the late Mr 11. Matthews's growing plants), Mr Seaton, of Fairfield, Messrs D. L. Poppelwell and Jas. Speden, of Gore, among others, were in strong sympathy with the movement, and large and important additions to the collection were thus made. Mr Hart and Mr Darton inspected again and again the veronicas planted in the various city reserves, always on the look-out for one that had been overlooked, and from this source several plants were added to the list. Any varieties listed by nurserymen were, if not previously possessed by them, gathered to. the fold. A North Island nurseryman, in supplying a few plants which had been ordered, sent one wrongly named, but which turned out to be one of those which the AA r etherstones cultivators much desired to have. In the hope that such another pleasing mistake might occur again, they purchased the whole of the remaining nursery collection, but their hope was vain. » *■ * * VISITS TO PUBLIC GARDENS BY MESSRS HART AND DARTON. Three or four visits were paid to the Christchurch Botanical Gardens, and several veronicas were unearthed from this source. One is certainly a very rare and pretty plant, about 10ft high. The name given to it by its new possessors for distinctive reference, Upokotangatai, brings forth from visitors the question: “Whoever gave that name to it? What does it mean?” ~ Another, Karamui, also locally named, has the makings of a novel bush. Both these veronicas came originally from the Chatham Islands. Many a time the searchers had to get down on all fours and explore under the many big trees that now adorn tha Christchurch Gardens; What was most striking were the immense labels used there by Armstrong and his predecessors forty or fifty years ago. Every hole, and corner was searched with the hope that, hidden away in some remote place, some of the long-sought-for varieties might be found. Mr Young was ever ready to help, and did all that was asked from him in his most genial and happy style. An old label of Ligustrifolia, a plant that is much desired at Wetherstones, was found in the gardens at Christchurch. Apparently the plant had been growing there at one time. Many cuttings were brought away labelled Ligustrifolia by the searchers, but when grown at AA’etherstoues they proved to be the wrong tiling, showing that if you put tlie name of apple on a cabbage plant there is no chance of it developing into anything else but a cabbage. Visits were paid to the Timaru and Oamaru public gardens. In the former place the searchers were given a free hand, and that lovely plant, Diosmaetolia Trisepla, was got from Mr D. Harper, the caretaker, who has a very line lot of veronicas growing under his care. Qamaru Gardens were searched from one end of the garden to the other, and as the* grounds are of some extent, hours tint! hours at different times were spent exploring every nook and corner in the place.