68 NEW ZEALAND PLANTS. 
As in the case of the trees, so, too, with the New Zealand shrubs : 
nearly all are evergreen. This might well be expected in a region 
possessing a climate devoid of extremes of any kind. The deciduous 
habit is essentially bound up with severe winters or hot summers 
combined with a dry climate. Some New Zealand trees and shrubs 
are deciduous throughout their range, but others exhibit every 
transition from the evergreen to the deciduous habit according to 
the amount of frost they have to encounter. The following list 
embraces most of the deciduous or semi-deciduous trees and shrubs 
and lianes: The large-leaved pohuehue (Muehlenbeckia australis), 
the pohuehue (17. complexa), the creeping-pohuehue (M. azillaris), 
the large-flowered New Zealand broom (Carmichaelia grandiflora), 
the tall New Zealand broom (C. odorata), the climbing New Zealand 
broom (C. gracilis), the various kinds of kowhai (Sophora), the wild- 
irishman (Discaria towmatou), the wineberry (Aristotelia racemosa), 
the lowland ribbonwood (Plagianthus betulinus), the shrubby ribbon- 
wood (P. divaricatus), the hybrid ribbonwood (P. cymosus), the hoary 
mountain-ribbonwood (Gaya ribifolia), the mountain -ribbonwood 
(G. Lyallii), the narrow-leaved lacebark (Hoheria angustifolia), the 
long -leaved lacebark (H. sexstylosa), the tree-fuchsia (Fuchsia 
excorticata), the shrub-fuchsia (#. Colensoz), the shore-fuchsia (F. pro- 
cumbens), the fragrant tree-daisy (Olearia fragantissima), the thin- 
leaved tree-daisy (O. Hectori), the odorous tree-daisy (O. odorata), 
the swamp tree-daisy (O. virgata and its varieties), the twiggy tree- 
daisy (O. lineata), the divaricate tree-daisy (O. divaricata), and the 
deciduous tree-groundsel (Senecio Hector). 
In the case of the kowhai the deciduous habit has nothing to do 
with frost, for the leaves are shed only just before the plant comes 
into bloom. On the other hand, in the case of the shrubby ribbon- 
wood, leaves will persist all winter on twigs within the shrub when 
on its periphery not a leaf can be seen. Plagianthus betulinus, Gaya 
ribifolia, Senecio Hectori, the various tree-daisies, the New Zealand 
brooms, and probably some of the other plants listed above are 
truly deciduous, no matter where they may grow. 
Shrubs differ greatly in their demands on nature. Some—for 
instance, the species of Alsewosmia, a genus of four species of the 
honeysuckle family, all of which are confined to New Zealand—can 
live only in the forest shade. Others—e.g., many of the New Zea- 
land brooms—luxuriate in the full blaze of the sun. Others, again, 
