MAORI NATURE NOTES

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11402, 22 March 1930, Page 5

MAORI NATURE NOTES

for the Pahiatua Herald— Copyright, J.H.S.) M AKAMAKA (removal of tapu), a strikingly handsome tree growing to fifty feet in the sheltered valleys of the North. It has a strange afnitv for the majestic kauri, and is seldom il ever found growing far from it. Being the only one of its species in New Zealand, and already rare, the Makamaka seems to he in danger of extinct on. The idealist is generally free from the hire ot wealth; hut there is the conservation of our rare and beautiful flora, a splendid field for such an enthusiast to attain fame and fortune. Surely some altruistic florist will come to tin l rescue ere yet it is too late. Hie shapely toothed leaves of this tree, distinctly veined. stand out in parallel' pairs along each slender branch, and form a .background for the long threads of small flowers. In botanical parlance, the bloom is described by the opprobrious term ‘polygamous. ’ A thing of such delicate delicate beauty in nature deserves a better name.