BUSH LORE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26628, 26 November 1947, Page 2

BUSH LORE

NEW ZEALAND FLORA Our New Zealand Trees and Flowers. By E. C. Richards. Simpson and Williams. 355. Although New Zealand flora has been adequately catalogued and classified for the botanist in such works as Cheeseman’s “ Manual of New Zealand Flora” and Kirk’s “Student’s Flora” and “Forest Flora,” there has been a need for a Simpler handbook for the layman. Mrs E. C. Richards has undertaken this considerable task in Our New Zealand Trees and Flowers. She has departed from the scientific arrangement of such books and presents the trees and plants in an order which is more likely to appeal to the unscientific. Necessarily, however, there remains a difficulty in identifying a plant unless one can distinguish some family characteristic, but this will be overcome 'by familiarity with the book and with the subject it studies. The descriptions are full and nontechnical. Latin names are translated and these often assist in identification Maori names and common names are given at the end of each paragraph and for readier reference thej are also given in a special index. A new feature is the inclusion of hints on how to grow native plants. Very sensibly, this is a well-illustrated volume, and it should become a popular reference book.