VEGETATION ON THE TARARUAS

Chronicle (Levin), 8 May 1947, Page 4

VEGETATION ON THE TARARUAS

FLORA CLUB HAS PLEASANT OUTING * » The luxuriant vegetation of the Tararua foothills was enjoyed by a v 4 party of 43 recently, when the Levin Native Flora Club held a combined outing with the Wellington Botanical Society members. In a narrow wooded valley, under clustering tree ferns the party had lunch and "billy tea" soon after y a'rrival, leaving the rest of the . time free for enjoying a quiet • ; wander up a small, partly dry stream bed. Everywhere tree trunks and •banks were clothed with "filmy ferns" of singuiar beauty, wffch > mosses and liverworts as background. Such variety and delicacy ' of form would be hard to surpass. A specially effective arid frequent grouping of filmy ferns; mostly to be seen on tree-fern trunks, was a * smother ®f pale green, diaphanous Trichomanes- venosum, the individual fronds of which are about two inches long, with four or five-inch fronds of velvety bronze Hymenphyllum ferrugineum emerging at intervals. The •. latter extended beyond their tender green. background, making an . arrangement of perfect balance and grace of form. • Some of the party returned to the starting place by way of a steep ridge, just tree-top height, where a bird's eye view of the tall forest growth was obtained. A mass of buds and a few early ' flowers of brick-coloured climbing rata gave promise of gay winter blooms; and ( (chiefly on this ridge) a number of small sandalwood (Mida salicifolia) trees were observed with interest. Though the whole area trayersed was really quite small, a surprising number of different species was noted, and the tender luxuriance of the bush, so easily accessible from Levin, was well appreciated. The visitors, numbefing about 22, returned to Wellington by car and train about 5 p.m.