NEW ZEALAND PLANTS 



SUITABLE FOR 



NORTH AMERICAN GARDENS, 



WITH HINTS AS TO THEIR CULTIVATION. 



By Dr. L. COCKAYNE, F.R.S. 



THE flora of New Zealand is altogether different from that of 

 North America, or indeed any part of the North Temperate 

 Zone, whence come so many hardy garden plants. Nor are 

 its southern relationships strongly in evidence when we con- 

 sider that nearly 80 per cent, of the flowering-plants are 

 peculiar to the region. Further, though many of the families, 

 and even genera, are identical with those of the Northern 

 Hemisphere, some of their species appear in unwonted guise 

 and with habits quite unexpected. Thus, several families 

 which in North America occur as herbs merely e.g., the 

 aster, lily, violet, and fig-wort families are represented in 

 New Zealand by veritable shrubs or even trees. The species 

 of blackberry (Rubus) are generally high climbing-plants, with 

 stems perhaps as thick as one's arm. The conifers are 

 related not to 1he pines, but to the yews, and one is so 

 lowly as to form dense mats upon the ground. There is a 

 buttercup (Ranunculus Lyallii) with great shield-shaped leaves 

 and abundant pure-white blossoms 2-3 in. in diameter raised 

 on a stem 3 ft. high or more. A forget-me-not with leaves 

 not unlike those of rhubarb, and with numerous blue flowers 

 each \ in. across, is also remarkable. On the high mountains, 

 certain plants of the aster family construct those immense 

 compact cushions known as " vegetable sheep." The varied 

 climates that New Zealand offers, its great topographical 

 diversity, the lofty mountains, the extensive coastline, the 

 many isolated islands all these factors, together with the 



