44 A NEW ZEALAND NATURALIST'S CALENDAR. 



One recalls many such a ramble on the hills in January, 



when 



' ' A dreamy haze 



Played on the uplands, but the hills were clear 

 In sunlight, and no cloud was on the sky. 

 It was a time when a deep silence comes 

 Upon the summer earth, and all the birds 

 Have ceased from singing, and the world is still 

 As midnight, and if any living thing move 

 The ear can catch the rustle, and the trees 

 And earth and air are listening." 



The Epic of Hades : Marsyas. 



But seldom in New Zealand does the summer air such "a 

 solemn stillness hold " ; it is its wont to be in ceaseless 

 motion, now gentle and now rough, but ever stirring. 

 But when nearly still the very joy of life seems here, 

 the air is full of "a tender music, like the ^Eolian 

 chords," the hum of countless insects as they move on 

 restless wing. 



Before we seek the breezy uplands there are flowers in 

 the bush that come out late in the season, some of which 

 are very attractive. The houhere (Hoheria populnea), 

 with its pretty white starlike blossoms, is one of the most 

 noticeable of the small trees in the bush. It seems to grow 

 best on rocky ground, such as the sunny slopes of Wood- 

 haugh or the top of Saddle Hill. The local variety is a 

 small-leaved form, and it is interesting as showing in its 

 adult condition the same kind of foliage as characterises 

 the common ribbonwood (Plagianthua betulinus) in its 

 juvenile stage. Perhaps it represents an ancestral leaf- 

 form. But while the houhere has a very conspicuous 

 flower, the ribbonwood has lost its attractiveness of colour 

 and size, and bears clusters of small greenish-yellow 

 blossoms. Another Plagianthus (P. Lyallii),* the mountain 

 ribbonwood, is in flower this month, and is met with in 

 cultivation in many gardens. Its native habitat is in the 

 valleys and lower woods of the western mountain districts, 

 throughout the whole length of this island. In "The 



* Now known as Gaya lyallii. 



