20 NEW ZEALAND PLANTS. 
the pirita (T'upeia antarctica), and the common New Zealand mistle- 
toe (Loranthus micranthus). 
Parasites must not be confused with perching-plants (epiphytes), 
which simply grow perched upon trees or other plants, but do not 
draw upon them for food. Perching-plants in New Zealand have 
usually growth-forms identical with plants rooted in the ground, 
but the perching (epiphytic) orchids have a special growth-form of 
their own, which is dealt with on pages 25 and 56. 
There are many other growth-forms, some exceedingly common 
and some much rarer, not a few of which present “ adaptations ” 
wanting in many floras other than that of New Zealand. Attention 
must be paid, in the first place, as to which of the great biological 
classes of seed-plants the species belongs—tree, shrub, semi-woody 
plant, herb (in a restricted sense), or grass form (including many 
sedges). Trees and shrubs may be evergreen or deciduous; they 
may also be tall, of medium size, or small. Shrubs may also be 
erect or prostrate, and the latter either with their stems below 
or above ground, and rooting or non-rooting. The size and texture 
of the leaves must be taken into consideration. Semi-woody 
plants and herbs have much the same growth-forms. They may 
be tall, medium-sized, or small; erect or prostrate, the latter below 
or above ground, and rooting or non-rooting; tufted; much or 
little branched; succulent; and so on. The grass form (though 
grasses are really herbs, but owing to their special growth-form they 
are better kept separate) falls into various growth-forms—e.g., the 
tufted, the turf-making, and the tussock. 
The following are interesting but rather uncommon growth-forms. 
The tuft tree—eg., the cabbage-tree (Cordyline australis) and the 
mountain-neinei (Dracophyllum Traversir) ; the leafless flat-stemmed 
or round-stemmed shrub—e.g., the New Zealand brooms (species of 
Carmichaelia) ; the cypress-like shrub—e.g., the whipcord veronicas ; 
the spiny shrub—e.g., Discaria toumatou (fig. 10); the summer-green 
herb (as opposed to evergreen), very common in most temperate coun- 
tries but comparatively rare in New Zealand, its parts which are 
above the ground dying to the ground in autumn. The above and 
other growth-forms receive a good deal of attention in many of 
the chapters which follow. The -study of growth-forms is both 
important and interesting, and no small degree of ingenuity is 
required in order to bestow appropriate names. 
