THE FLORA OF THE TARARUAS

Shannon News, 10 February 1928, Page 3

THE FLORA OF THE TARARUAS

A BOTANIST’S GLEANINGS. THOUSANDS WOULD VISIT WAIOPEHU IF- NEAR AUCKLAND. “If we had such an attractive and interesting place near Auckland, thousands of people would visit it every summer. I wonder whether Levin realises what an asset it possesses at its very hack door in this high, but accessible range, with its beautiful Alpine vegetation, to say nothing of the varied beauty of the bush track itself. ’ ’

In this remark Professor T. L. Lancaster, lecturer on botany at the Auckland University and an enthusiastic student of New Zealand's wonderful and unique flora., summed up a three days’ visit, to Mount. Waiopehu, which the Levin-Waiopehu Club has done so much to open up,- and popularise in the past year. Professor Lancaster is one of ihe younger generation of scientists who have devoted themselves to research and study of the botanical. marvels of the Dominion. The kauri forests of the Auckland peninsula, or what remain of them, have been of special interest to him, but beyond that he has specialised in New Zealand flora generally, being convinced of its importance" scientifically and its general interest to the student of the botanical world.

’Accompanied by his uncle, Mr E. S. Lancaster, and Mr G. L. Adldn, Professor Lancaster lefj: on Monday morning for Waiopehu and reached the hut site that day, camping in the tent nearby.’ On Tuesday, though visibility was much impaired by a fog, the party went to the summit of the mountain, returning to the hut for the night., and spending Wednesday in exploration. Mr Adkin, however, returned on Tuesday.

In an interview with a Chronicle representative, Professor Lancaster said the hut site was admirably chosen, handy to the summit and bush, in a situation that would never be wet, while there was good water near ,at hand. Auckland had nothing like Waiopehu within easy reach, and if it had, it would be a very popular resort. Professor Lancaster commented 'upon the abundant growth of ferns as one of the features of the Waiopehu bush. Round the hut site there was a remarkable area of a genus of tree fern (Alsophila) which grows along the ground and which covered a belt of 300 or 400 feet above and below the hut. Another interesting thing was the presence all along the track of the tender green tree fern (Elemitelia), the trunk of which was usually sheathed with the dead fronds of years of growth. . The native sandalwood (Fusanus CiuViinghamii), which many people mistook for the maire, grew m profusion in the bush and was noticeably a favourite with the opossums, its soft white bark being invariably scored by these animals. Professor Lancaster's chief discovery on Waiopehu was the three .variations of the pokaka. A peculiaiity ol certain species ,of New Zealand plain life is that in passing from the seed ling to the mature stage, . they gothrough phases in which their appeal-, anee is totally distinct from the preceding stage. The lance-wood (Pseudopanax) is a well-known example of tin: variation, which is not presented to tin same extent in the flora of any othe: country in the world. The long nairow leaf of the immature plant is familiar to everyone, the leaves -being > from a foot to 18 inches in length, bu; the mature tree is quite a different ob jeet, with leaves 3 t 0.5 inches in length and presenting an entirely different as pect. It is so with the pokaka, whico passes through three stages in its life history, all of which are to be fount on Waiopehu. In t.he juvenile stage th, leaves are small, irregularly-serratei and bronze in colour. In the lntcrmec late phase the leaves have become b g o-er and less serrated, and in the niatur. tree, the leaves are longer, with thserration hardly noticeable, and th< bronze colour has given place to .: bright green. The bark is similar u all the stages, but. the twiggy, inter laced growth in the early phases ha given place to a more open and branch ing habit, in the mature stage. Ih< ordinary observer would at once pro nounce each of the three to be a (lit ferent species. The great contrast be tween the forms was admirably illus tinted in one tree from which spew mens of the intermediate and mature stages were obtained. The reason wh) some New Zealand trees should exhibit such remarkable divergences m form lias long been a puzzle to the botanists in many parts of the world, and so far no satisfying theory has been advanced to account for it. The mere fact, of itexistence, however, is enlightening as throwing confirmatory light upon the variation of species and the evolution of new forms of plant life...

Professor Lancaster catalogued as far as was possible in the time at his disposal Ihe vegetation encountered on Waiopehu and the list is as follows;

Ka 111 ahi (Wcinmnnnia raeemosa) is the dominant tree of the middle part of the bush. Totara. Miro. Tawa. R auk aw a (Nothopanax Edgerleyn) / in its juvenile state.

Wineberry. Puta-puta-weta. Torn (Suttonia Salieina), very abundant. Horopito (or pepper-tree). Rata. . Porokaiwhiri (or pigeonwood). Tree Perns — Hemitetia. Blechnum discolor (so-called because the fronds are white on the iindcr side). . Senecio Kirkii (daisy). Kapuka (Griselinia littoralis). Euphrasia (in full flower). Gentians (white flowers with purple lines).

Pimelea Gnidia (the native daphne). The Spaniard. Heaths. Olearias and senecios. Tussocks (a species. ~of danthoiva with graceful flowering stalks). Libertia pulchclla (a member of the iris family, with white flowers, found rov* 1 the lmt. site). Enargca (a lily with a tiny hanging bell-like flower). The native white violet (near the hut). . The veronica family was not strongly represented. These ranges, observed Professor Lancaster, offered au unrivalled opportunity for the observation of the change in the flora as one ascended. One passed through the bush, the scrub and the Alpine meadow, each belt being very distinctly defined. The mosses, lichens, and liverwort alone gave scope for years of study and a botanical enthusiast could wish for nothing better than the opportunity. Birds, however, were not over-plentiful. There were bellbirds, white-eyes, cuckoos, tuis, pigeons and many kalcas. ■■ .