304 Transactions. — Botany. 



irregular outline and a lumpy and corrugated surface, and 

 furnished at occasional intervals with thin wiry feeders set on 

 at right angles to the axis. In size the root«is out of all pro- 

 portion to the rest of the plant. On one that I transplanted 

 it was nearly 3 ft. long, with a principal diameter at the upper 

 third of from 3 in. to 4 in., and tapering to a fine point at the 

 lower end. Soil and situation, of course, greatly influence 

 the growth, and the Maoris inform me that on rich alluvial 

 bottoms the roots often attained such large dimensions that 

 it was necessary to quarter them down the middle in order to 

 reduce them to a convenient size for cooking. 



The propagation of the ti pore was very easy and simple. 

 The usual plan was to cut off and replant the stalk with a 

 small portion of the root attached in the same manner as is 

 done with the taro. Advantage was also taken of the offsets 

 which often spring up from the foot of the old stocks, espe- 

 cially when any injury has happened to the top. So far as I 

 have been able to learn, the ti pore does not seed in New 

 Zealand. 



To prepare the root for food it was finely pounded with a 

 wooden club on a flat stone, in the same manner as the fern- 

 root, until the fibre was quite broken up, after which it was 

 steamed in the haangi, or native oven, for from twelve to 

 twenty-four hours. The substance then presented the appear- 

 ance of a glutinous mass, and the taste is described as of a 

 sugary sweetness far beyond that of the ti rauriki, but, like that 

 root, with a slightly bitter after-flavour. The cooked article 

 was highly esteemed not only for its agreeable taste, but for 

 its nutritive and keeping qualities, especially in time of war, 

 when it was a question of provisioning the pa or carrying food 

 on the war-path. It is probable, however, that owing to the 

 slow growth of the plant it was most generally used merely 

 as a sweetmeat. In fact, the Maoris say that in old times 

 the chewing of a piece of the prepared root when one had 

 nothing else to do gave the same satisfaction as is now 

 afforded by a pipe and tobacco. 



The almost total disappearance within a couple of genera- 

 tions of a plant once so widely grown and so easily pro- 

 pagated is not so difficult to account for as might appear at 

 first sight. In the first place, its tropical origin limited its 

 culture to certain favoured spots within a comparatively small 

 area of the northern peninsula, while the fact of its not repro- 

 ducing itself from seed rendered its preservation dependent on 

 continuous plantation. And as on the general introduction 

 of European trade which took place during the second quarter 

 of the century sugar and other ready-made delicacies of the 

 pakeha could be obtained at a cost of much less labour than 

 was necessary to produce the primitive sweetmeat, its cultiva- 



