THE NEGLECTED REALM.

Hokitika Guardian, 15 September 1923, Page 4

THE NEGLECTED REALM.

A NATURE STUDY. j “Oil reader! had you In your mind Siuh stores as silent thought can bring. 0 gentle reader, you would find A tale in everything.” —Wordsworth. At first glance a sphagnum hog is a dreary looking place, with its isolated clumps of stunted bushes and intervening stretches of damp, dull moss; and such a one as lies along the summit of the terrace a. little to the north of Hokitika. running down in a westerly direction from the higher slopes of Blue

Spur, would perhaps, seem of little interest. Here the Urine hulen winds from the west to north-east sweep continually over the unsheltered wastes, flattening the tops of the thickets, and retarding the growth of many a sapling, which, under more favourable circumstances would have shot up into a tall forest tree. But one yard of this desolation is wofth many furlongs of cinema films, in its power to interest and charm ; for it is blessed by the “Wisdom from above,” which so often hides the most wonderful beauty under a cloak of dullest hue. that those that have eyes may see, and seeing believe | that — ’ •-» -■« _ 1.1 ft!. TT r-» Y- !*1

Earth’s era min’d with Hcnv’n And every hush afire with God; But only they who see, tako oil their shoes.” “In teiuii labor; at tenui non gloria."—Humble is the theme, but great the Glory ! It would he almost impossible to mark out a square yard in any part of the swamp,—excluding the areas of dense manuka scrub or encroaching gorse—that would not contain at least one member of each of the following families:—Droserae (sundews). Lentibuiarieae (b!addc*r-worts), hiliaocac and Orchidaccne. At some seasons of the year tho swamp is bright with colour; the redstunted birch (Weinmamiia), and of the young loaves of Bleehnum Capense a fern whose form and colour vary much with environment; tho brightblue of tho orchird—ill el.villi trn, and bladderwort, known to children as tho swamp “violet”—the green, brown, and yellow masses of lycopodium and mo-.s; the snow-white of manuka, and the golden beauty of scented gorse. What a garden of perfect symmetry! where no incongruous araugement offends the eye. But there are more bidden wonders than are at first apparent. Of orchids there are many :—“Prnsophylliuni 'eolcnsoi.” a slender plant with brown flowers, which under a magnifying glass reveal an astonishing beauty as of brown velvet and sparkling diamonds; “microtis porrifolia,” the spicy bulbs of which children sometimes eat under the name of “Maori potatoes; “caladenia minor.” the smallest and daintiest of all; “thelymitrn lougifolia” with large flowers of all shades from bright blue to mauve and pink; and the weak stemmed “pterostvlis.” the green spid-oi-like flowers of which have a hinged tongue fur the trapping of unwary flies who. prevented from leaving by the wav they entered, are forced to pass the rostellum and carry away the pollen grains on their bodies. Iluis is cross-fertilisation ensured. The sundew (drosera binntu) belongs to a family of insectivorous plants, which growing in swampy places whore the soil is deficient in nitrogen, have evolved a means of extracting their nourishment from other sources, the leaves of this species are long, narrow and forked, and are covered with glandular hairs, which secrete a sticky fluid. Any winged insect, alighting on these glittering red arms, becomes ensnared, ami dies a victim to the sundew’s ingenuity. Often moths may he seen in all stages of dissolution; for this stranger plant takes some little time to digest its unusual meal. The flowers of the sundew are white and very beautiful. . . A companion in mistorttme, as lai an situation goes is the “utricularia miinnnthus ” which also lias an ingenious device for catelling animal food. This

plant grows more or less in the pools ol water, and on the roots are tiny bladders, whence its name. These are .specially •;< instructed straps for the capture and retention ol minute water animals, wlio.se flesh helps the plant to crow, and bear those delicate deep-blue flowers with a golden streak, so wellknown to ihildren and others, whose steps sometimes lead them l.oyoinl the l-aw n. Tho ‘•lvcopoilmm * nsortfc < ojiiuioii “1,. Deii.snm,” growing in compact masses of green, silver and golden-red foliage; and the ancient history of this genus makes it not the least interesting of swamp dwellers. The mosses and ferns, in their oud]o>s variety, are beyond the limits of these brief notes. The forms of fructification. the methods of reproduction and germination are unsurpassed foi the wonder of their minute perlectness in structure and design; so that w: can never look upon these filings and not sense the truth of <• Bens rnagmis in magnis, maximum in minimis.” —Bayard Bn i ha in.