CENTENNIAL TREES

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19694, 28 July 1938, Page 16

CENTENNIAL TREES

1 STORY OF SUPPLEJACK ONE OF THE LILY FAMILY SEEDS FOR PLANTING By "Totara" Ruth Bluck, of the 'Nuhaka Public School, sends in some interesting notes on the supplejack, or kareao, a bush climber common in, many parts of New Zealand. Thank you, Ruth, for going to such trouble in looking up this information and sending it in. "Totara" is pleased to see the interest you are taking in native trees. Here is what Ruth has written:— Rhipogonum Scandens, the Supplejack "No one would dream that this plant belongs to the lily tribe, but it is really one of that large family, two others being the cabbage tree, cordyline Australia, and the New Zealand flax, phormium tenax. "The flower of the supplejack is green and small, and grows at the end of shoots. The brown and black ropes hang and twist everywhere, binding one tree to another and forming loops and nooses below and above, so as to cause progress through bush most difficult and in some places almost impossible without slashing a path. "The leaves, which are' seen in any number only near the ends of the ends of the shoots, are opposite, oval, thick and leathery, having a metallic sheen. The berries are oval, brilliant scarlet and pointed at the ends. "The wiry stems are so strong that thev may be used as cords without fear of breaking. Rope ladders have been made Ifrom them for the purpose of climbing the steep cliffs which shut in the Wanganui River. They are used also for basketwork, while in the Chatham Islands native huts built of fern posts are lashed together with supplejacks and thatched with toe grass. "The roots are used by bushmen as a medicine, and the plant is some-

times called bush sarsaparilla. The native name is kareao, which seems to mean a twisting rope. Seeds from Nuhaka C. Te Ngaio, secretary of the sweet pea clulb at the Nuhaka native school, has written to say that as seeds are required he and his club-mates are going to provide berries of the kohe and horoeka, or lancewood, when they are ripe. Thank you, Nuhaka boys and girls. Your seeds will be welcome. The kohe and horoeka are both beautiful and interesting trees, and seed from both will be welcome. Supplies Available Seed is still available as follows: Olearia paniculata (akiraho), tarata, cabbage tree, karo. Cabbage tree seed should be plentiful in many districts at present. The seeds are in little groups and covered with a dry skin. Separate them out 'before planting. Schools and others requesting seed last week have had them forwarded. With so much wet, cold weather, it will probably pay not to plant for a while yet. Too much rain causes some of them to rot. Transplanting Seedlings A letter from A. Betteridge, Te Hapara thanks "Totara" for a number of seed's, and states that he has sown them in boxes as advised. Some of the native trees that make rapid growth may be lifted the first season, with a good tuft of soil, and planted in their permanent positions, provided they are well sheltered from the wind, frost and the sun. Usually, however, they are transplanted into other boxes, and during the following season are cut out with soil for planting in their permanent positions. Country Clubs These notes are of use now for town clubs, and country club members should keep these notes for later on when they will be of use.