THE NATIONAL FLOWER.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 November 1916, Page 8

THE NATIONAL FLOWER.

VICTORIA LEAGUE'S SCHEME. CLAIMS OF THE KOWHAI, The suggestion put forward by the Victoria League, that the yellow kowliai be adopted as the national flower of Nev; Zealand, has found favor with Mr. D. J. Hughes, of Spotswood, who writes: — "I think the Victoria League's suggestion »n excellent one. The yellow kowliai is a. beautiful flowering tree, very easily grown in all districts in this country. Our native bird, the tui, or parson bird, as it is commonly called, is very fond of the honey, and with its long bill can easily penetrate the long petals. I can supply from 500 to 1000 young plants either this season or next, and unlimited seed. The plant is very easily grown and will flower in its third year. Tho wood of the kowliai is a splendid lasting timber, and is also good for wheelwright purposes," On the same subject Mr. M. Fraser write;:—"To anyone familiar with our native flora the choice of tlni most suitable national flower is an exceedingly difficult matter, for the associations and 1 tender affection one has for the flowers that one has gathered and lived with from childhood is likely to bias one's judgment. Personally, the flower I should like to take to heaven with me is the manuka, the sweet-scented pink and white manuka. One who has lived where the valleys and rolling hills are dad with this exquisite bloom will never forget the glorious sight, the fragrant .myrtle scent, kindled into life by bright sunshine and the drowsy hum of wild bees. But, after all, this flower is a myrtle, an order common on both sides of the Equator. f

The flower that has the first claim te national distinction is tho honeysuckle (knigiitia exeelsa), which is Nature's first attempt at flowery plants, for the impression of its long deeply-toothe.'' leaves are found in the clays of the coal period. The flower is a raceme, consisting of 50 to SO separate flowers, cacb flower a narrow tube, about one inch and a half long, that splits up into lour segments curling back on itself, forming a beautiful twisted tangled mass of redbrown and silky white filaments. It belongs to a very small genus of three specie?, the typical one confined to Kew Zealand. The remaining two are natives of New Caledonia, and quite a different flower. You will find it at present ir. full bloom in Pukekura Park.