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[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, September 17, 1870.]
Many of the writers and travellers who have described the physical appearance and natural scenery of New Zealand, have dwelt with more or less enthusiasm on the remarkable character of the beauty of our native forests, on the noble trees, amongst which the Coniferœ occupy so distinguished a position, and the ever-varying foliage of the luxuriant shrubs, of which so many species are peculiar to these Islands. Although a century has elapsed since that epoch, at which a far from insignificant portion of the flora of this country became known to botanists, and notwithstanding that the footsteps of Banks and Solander have been followed at intervals by many men of science, it may be considered a matter of surprise that so little has been made known of the habits of many genera, and that so few persons have devoted much time and attention to their cultivation. That this neglect of our most interesting indigenous plants is a matter of regret, few of those will be disposed to question who have had opportunities of becoming personally acquainted with the present condition of many districts, and who cannot fail to have reflected on the destructive results to our native flora which the rapid settlement of the country is daily effecting. The constantly recurring bush fires, the means by which the tenant of crown lands seeks to improve the condition and quality of the grasses for the depasturing of his stock, and the wasteful management of the once magnificently timbered forests, threaten at no distant period the almost entire destruction of many interesting and valuable species, before time has been afforded to ascertain their real position as a portion of the economical resources of the country. In the Middle Island, the localisation of the bushes and shrub-covered areas, may have exercised a deterring influence, not without its effects on the newly formed shrubberies and plantations of the settler.
The object of this paper is simply to draw attention to the cultivation of native plants, and to impart, very briefly, such information as may have been acquired from the experience of several years, during which many species have been cultivated. One of the chief reasons which has induced the communication of these observations, is the knowledge of the fact that many persons show almost a prejudice against planting native shrubs, from the supposed difficulty attending their successful treatment.
That the efforts of some beginners have been marked by failure, is not altogether a matter for surprise; often with the hope of making a show at once, specimens are selected from the bush which are too large, and too old, to be safely removed; in too many cases the planter contents himself with tearing up the young and tender seedlings from the moist shelter of the bushy
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gullies, transplanting the flagging shrubs, with roots bruised and ruptured, to the open borders of the garden or shrubbery, where, in all probability, they are equally exposed to the icy blast of the south-west gales and the desiccating influence of the parching north-wester. Let the intending grower place some portion of a decaying log, rich in its panoply of various-hued lichens, beside the newly removed plants, and a convincing proof will be afforded of the sudden change of atmospherical conditions they are expected to encounter and survive, as he gazes on the shrivelled objects to which a few days exposure has metamorphosed the luxuriant lichens. An equal want of consideration for the habits of plants may be noted where alpines (to which a free circulation of air is a necessary condition of healthy growth, if not of life), have been buried beneath the shade and drip of overhanging trees. To these hints as to the desirableness of shelter in the tender stage of their earlier growth, should perhaps be added, that planting in too close proximity to fast growing but exhaustive Eucalypti should also be avoided.
Amongst the groups of plants on the cultivation of which it is proposed to offer remarks, many will be found of the most ornamental description, beautiful in foliage, compact in form; some, from their habit of growth, adapted for training as impervious screens; from the many flowered corymbs of others, fragrant odours are diffused; whilst the native hardiness of several species, points them out as worthy of cultivation from their being calculated to afford grateful shelter in the bleakest situations. All are desirable acquisitions to the garden, the shrubbery, or the plantation, and have a right to and are worthy of a home in public Botanic Gardens of the colony.
In view of the progress which is being made in the formation of plantations, by the efforts of many enterprising settlers in several districts in both islands, the value of many species of native shrubs, as nurse plants for sheltering exotic forest trees, must be recognized, as their aid during the earlier and tender stage in the life of many a valuable timber tree, will be found materially to assist its successful acclimatization. Coprosmas and Olearias at once occur as groups admirably adapted for this purpose, from their hardiness of constitution, closeness of foliage, and the ease with which they can be removed with safety.
It is to be hoped that the formation and proper organization of Botanic Gardens will not be much longer deferred; each year's delay is a national loss, whether it is considered from a scientific, educational, or commercial point of view; by the establishment of such gardens, it is not meant that such institutions should be considered as carried out successfully when certain reserves of land are set aside, and marked off on a map. In order to confer the greatest amount of public benefit, such establishments should be carefully but vigorously administered. Appreciative foreigners are ever anxious to obtain collections of our native flora, and interesting exchanges would soon occupy an important
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position, the value of which would be at once recognized. Much additional usefulness would be derived from the support of a laboratory in connection with the most prominent of such gardens, in order that the aid of chemistry might be invoked, to demonstrate what of value we might be enabled to derive from the remains of our vegetable wealth. It might also teach us to look with regret on the charred and blackened stumps of what were once noble forests, on the wide areas of country lately covered with heavy luxuriant bushes of Phormium, as bearing evidence against us of a wasteful and costly system of settlement, that would then be no longer tolerated.
We have adhered to the nomenclature and arrangement as given in that valuable boon to the colony, Hooker's Handbook of the New Zealand Flora, which must be appreciated by every one who takes an interest in the vegetable kingdom.
The time of flowering given, is the period when the species blossom in Governor's Bay, near Lyttelton,—a locality which enjoys the advantage of a certain amount of shelter from south-west weather, but is open to the sea breeze from the north-east, the prevailing wind.