150 NEW ZEALAND PLANTS. 



bark, may not be seen. Should the time be winter, then will the tree 

 be leafless ; but if summer, then there will be abundance of soft, thin 

 leaves, green above, but beneath pale and silvery. 



The deciduous habit is very rare amongst New Zealand plants, 

 being confined to two or three, for naked boughs in winter are in 

 harmony with a cold and frozen soil, since roots cannot suck up water 

 if it be too cold, and the presence of leaves under these circum- 

 stances would be worse than useless. But where the climate is mild 

 and equable, as in this country, then there is no need for leaves to fall, 

 since they can do their complex work more or less efficiently all the 

 year round. The fall of the fuchsia's leaf was not unnoticed by those 

 keen nature-students, the ancient Maoris. Where wast thou at the 

 fall of the kotukutuku ? " would be demanded of the laggard who had 

 been absent when his presence was urgently needed during that special 

 season of labour, the planting of the kumara. 



The genus Fuchsia derives its name from a German botanist, 

 Leonhard Fuchs (Anglice, Fox), who lived during the early half of the 

 sixteenth century. It contains more than fifty species, which, with 

 the exception of three New-Zealanders, are all South Americans. 

 From certain of these latter have been raised by the gardener's skill 

 the large-flowered and brilliantly coloured varieties so popular in 

 gardens. 



The New Zealand species consist of the tree mentioned above 

 (F. excorticata) ; a shrub, or at times a scrambling-liane (F. Colensoi) ; 

 and a rather rare trailing or partly climbing sea-shore plant, found 

 only in the north of Auckland, but not uncommon as an ornamental 

 pot-plant (F. procumbens). The last is distinguished from the other 

 two by its erect flowers and its very large and extremely handsome red 

 berries. 



The flowers of Fuchsia excorticata are produced very early in the 

 year, and some even before the tree is in leaf. The calyx, green and 

 unattractive in most flowers, forms here the conspicuous part of the 

 blossom. Below, it is attached to the ovary ; then it is constricted, and 

 finally expanded into a funnel-shaped tube, which is divided at its 

 margin into four acute segments. The colour is green and purple, 

 but it soon fades into a dull red. The petals, four in number, are 

 inconspicuous : they are inserted at the throat of the calyx. There 

 are eight stamens. The style is slender and elongated, and terminates 

 in a little knob, the stigma. The pollen is of a blue colour, and adds 



