IRISH GARDENING 



xoi.r.Mi-; \ II. 



No. 82 



A MON lULV JOURNAL DEVOTED TO FHK 



ADVANCEMENT OF HORTICULTURE AND 



ARBORICULTURE IN IRELAND 



1)K( K.MUKK 

 iqi2 



Hoheria populnca. 



NEW ■' 



H0111-;U1.\ is a genus bolonj^iiij^- lo tlic 

 Malvacew, and contains onl_\' a sinyle 

 species which is entirely restricted to 



New Zeahind. To tlie Maories it is known as 



" houliere " or " hoihere,'' and European settlers 



call it " ribbonwood" 



or "lacebark," terms 



which are also applioLl 



to its near relative tlu 



Platifiantluis. 



Kirk, in the " Forest 



{•"lora of New Zea- 

 land," says tiie plant is 



sometimes found as a 



shrub, and at otlici 



times grows to a small 



tree twenty to forty- 

 five feet high. The 



leaves of some varieties 



show great variation, 



some even taking the 



form of Cratitgus. 

 Our photograph is 



of a spray taken from a 



plant growing undei 



glass in the Trinit; 



College Ciardens. 



Here it has flowereLl 



and ripened seed tor 



many years. The shrub 



is about eighteen feei 



high, but owing to 



limited space it has 



to be cut down fre- 

 quently. .About the end of September and 



October this evergreen shrub flowers freely, 

 J12 and is most attractive. In the open ground in 

 f^ the College Gardens a young seedling is already 

 ^._, five feet high, and in several other gardens 



throughout the country is making good growth, 



and has llowered outside in the south and also 



ill Co. Pown. \(> donbl, like other New 



tkMlKKIA I'l il'l I.NKA. 



Zealanders, a sheltered position will be ;ippre- 

 ciated, although it has flowered in the open 

 this autumn at Abbotsburv. 



The leaves are evergreen, from three to four 

 inches long, smooth and finely veined, with 



toothed margins. The 

 flowers are white, 

 about three-quarters 

 ot an inch across, pro- 

 duced in bundles of 

 three to ten in the axils 

 of the lea\es. The 

 petals are five in num- 

 ber, and the stamens 

 .ir-f prominent and in- 

 teiesting in structure. 

 The filaments are 

 united at their base to 

 lorm a tube which en- 

 circles the pistil for 

 half its length, then 

 the stamens divide it 

 into fi\e bundles, eacn 

 bimdle contai. ing five 

 to eight stamens. 



.At the November 

 meeting of the Irish 

 Naturalists' Field Club 

 Mr. Wild showed a 

 branch bearing both 

 flowers and unripe 

 fruit. The fruit con- 

 sists of five carpels ; 

 each carpel has a large 

 wino', and contains a single seed. 



The Hoheria will root from cuttings, but is 

 more easily raised from seed, and is usually to 

 be found in the Trinity College seed list. The 

 shrub grows freely in ordinary soil, and as 

 free-flowering evergreens for October are very 

 scarce the Hoheria should be valuable if placed 

 in a sheltered position. 



