Plate 200.— RHIPOGONUM SCANDENS. 



(THE SUPPLEJACK.) 



Family LILIACEyE.] [Genus RHIPOGONUM, Forst. 



Rhipogonum scandens, Forst. Char. Gen. 50 ; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 700. 



Few plants are better known to the frequenter of the lowland forests of New 

 Zealand than the subject of this plate, the kareao of the Maoris, and the supplejack 

 of the European colonists. Its long climbing stems arrest the progress of the 

 traveller at every turn, binding one tree to another, and presenting a bewildering 

 tangle always difficult to penetrate, and sometimes almost impossible. The first 

 description ever framed of the plant — that of Dr. Solander, no doubt written with 

 a vivid recollection of a contest with it — begins so accurately and yet so quaintly 

 that I may be excused for quoting the opening sentence here : " Frutex ambula- 

 toribus sylvarum molestissimus ilhsque ubique obstans." 



As hinted above, Rhipogonum scandens was originally discovered during Cook's 

 first voyage to New Zealand in the year 1769. It was collected by the naturalists 

 to the expedition at Tolaga Bay, Mercury Bay, the Thames River, and Queen Char- 

 lotte Sound. It was fully described, and an excellent figure prepared of it, neither 

 of which, however, was actually published. It was again gathered by the two 

 Forsters during Cook's second voyage, and was published by them in their " Characteres 

 Generum Plantarum" under the name which it still bears. Almost every botanical 

 explorer since then has collected or observed it, and it is now known to range from 

 the North Cape southwards to Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands. In the 

 northern portion of the Dominion — that is, to the north of the Upper Waikato — 

 its distribution is pretty general, and it ascends as high as 2,000 ft. ; but it is absent 

 from the central volcanic plateau and the higher mountains of the North Island, 

 and in the South Island is mainly found in lowland forests not far from the sea. 



The mode of growth of Rhipogonum scandens presents many peculiarities worthy 

 of attentive study. A. Richard, in his " Flore de la Nouvelle Zelande," quotes some 

 excellent remarks from Forster's manuscripts, proving that the main facts of its 

 Ufe-history were known to him. He mentions the creeping rhizome, and the tuber- 

 cular mass, " as large as a fowl's egg," from which the stems spring. He clearly 

 describes the knotted stems, mentioning the smooth interspaces between the knots, 

 and he also describes with considerable detail the remarkable and early deciduous 

 cauUne leaves, so very different in shape from the foliage leaves, whicli are usually 

 confined to the upper branches. Some valuable remarks on the behaviour of 

 Rhipogonum as a cUmbing plant will be found in Dr. Cockayne's " Report on the 

 Waipoua Kauri Forest " (p. 24). 



The long tough and durable elastic stems have been appUed to a variety of 

 purposes, as the manufacture of baskets, hurdles, fences, &c. They were also used 

 by the Maoris in constructing rope ladders, with which to ascend cliffs, or the walls 

 of their pas or fortifications. A decoction of the root was used in the place of 

 sarsaparilla by the early colonists, and it was also employed medicinally by the 

 Maoris. 



The genus Rhipogonum contains five species in all. Four of these are confined 

 bo eastern Australia ; the remaining one, the subject of tliis plate, is endemic in 

 New Zealand. 



Plate 200. Rhi-pogoiium scatidem, diawa from specimens collected on the Waitakarei Ranges, 

 near Auckland. Fig. 1, portion of inflorescence (x 3) ; 2, bract and two bracteoles (x 6) ; 3, perianth- 

 segment and stamen (x 5) ; 4, back of stamen (x 5) ; 5, pistil (x 10) ; 6, longitudinal section ol same 

 (xlO); 7, tran verse section of same (x 10); 8, transverse section of fruit ( x 2J) ; 9, longitudinal 

 section ot fruit (x 2^) ; 10, seed (x 3) ; 11, embryo (enlarged). 



