KOWHAI FLOOD

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20085, 3 November 1939, Page 10

KOWHAI FLOOD

LATER THIS YEAR EFFECT OF DRY WEATHER EAST COAST BUSH (Herald Correspondent.) The Coast bush is looking very picturesque and where the forest is extensive and practically virgin the flowering trees and the vividness of .their colour are an enchanting picture. The clematis has powdered the slopes with white. The little yellow lanterns of the kowhai blaze in profusion in tile.sunshine-,- this being' perhaps the-most’- bcnutiful of all-native flowers. The ko wfa ai-ds- fteweria ig—y ery .-late this season. "Waipiro Bay is particularly well endowed with kowhais. In 1936 the kowhai trees commenced to paint the landscape in gold about August 31. Rain began to fall on August 21, and continued to feed the kowhai flood copiously.

In 1937 the kowhai came into bloom about a week or 12 days later, first news of it being received on September 13. In 1938 the first flowers were seen about September 20. This year the big kowhai flood did not come until September 26. the kowhai being :n full bloom a fortnight later.

The scientific explanation why the kowhai tree does not bloom earlier is a simple one. The flower buds are encased in an extremely hard covering, which cannot burst to reveal the blooms until it has been thoroughly soaked in moisture.

Heavy spring rains are usual on the Coast between mid-August and the last week in September. In these the kowhai is sufficiently drenched to soften the covering of the buds. Either humid weather or hot, dry sunshine is sufficient to make them burst into glorious bloom.

The kowhai Hood, of course, has its drawbacks and its dangers. The Waiapu River usually becomes a banker, and practically every year it claims a victim. This, too, has become a Maori superstition, and has been partly responsible for its being called “the river of tears,’’ the name being literally an idiomatic translation of-the native word “Waiapu.”