1 76 A NEW ZEALAND NATURALIST'S CALENDAR. 



advantage to a plant in its warfare with man, or rather 

 in the mode in which it utilises his labours in stirring the 

 soil, to be able to grow to maturity and to scatter its seeds 

 in a very short period of time. In the world of Nature it 

 is not the individual which is the important unit, it is the 

 race, and those plants and animals which most rapidly 

 come to maturity and reproduce their kind in vast numbers 

 in a limited period of time are the forms which become the 

 most abundant and dominant. Indeed, it is this annual 

 habit and rapid individual development which causes these 

 plants to be such troublesome weeds. 



The second class of annuals come from lands where they 

 are subjected to a warm climate, and especially to a dry 

 season, when all vegetation which is not deep-rooted tends 

 to be killed off by drought. Such plants in their native 

 habitats germinate with the moisture of spring, rapidly 

 come to maturity, bear flowers and fruit in the early 

 summer, and scatter their seeds before the ground becomes 

 completely parched. To this class belong many of our 

 cultivated annual flowers, especially those which we call 

 half-hardy, and which have been raked together from 

 distant parts of the earth. Thus Phlox Drummondi from 

 Texas, Zinnias from Mexico and Peru, Saponaria from 

 Southern Spain, and many other genera and species, are all 

 short-lived plants in their native countries, living out their 

 short gay life in the earlier months of the year. In this 

 part of New Zealand, with its moist and equable climate 

 (which it really is, though we sometimes seem to get 

 summer and winter in the same day), many of these plants 

 have a pretty long lease of life, but few of them survive 

 into the second year. 



A very interesting period in plant life, and one which is 

 very easy of study at this time of year, is the germination 

 of the seed. It is worth while watching some of these as 

 they come up in the seed beds, and noting the curious 

 differences which they present. And if one will take the 

 trouble to soak a few seeds, such as those of beans and 

 peas, radish and cress, lay them on the surface of damp 

 soil in a pot and cover them so as to keep their moisture 



