88 My New Zealand Garden 



12 to 20 feet high, and flower well. They have 

 sent out roots for some distance up their stems, 

 so perhaps they are fishing for oysters on the 

 drive, and will have the same sport that the White 

 Knight had with his mouse-trap on horseback in 

 'Alice through the Looking-Glass.' The Rata 

 proper (M. robusta) makes excellent fuel, and is 

 used quite as much as coals, especially for cooking. 

 M. florida, with its white relative (albaflora), are 

 the chief climbers of the family, and top the most 

 lofty trees in the Bush, the red giving a splendid 

 effect in this neighbourhood, but the white is more 

 confined to the Bay of Islands. M. lucida (the 

 Southern Rata) revels in the cold of the South, 

 where the whole sides of high mountains may be 

 seen coated with its brilliant inflorescence. I was 

 determined to try one specimen here, but have 

 only its death to record. A yellow Metrosideros 

 has actually been seen, according to the best 

 authorities. How I should like to possess it ! 

 and why nurserymen do not I can't understand. 

 The spot where it grows is well known, and though 

 quite among the Maoris and out of the radius of 

 catalogues, surely seeds and cuttings could be pro- 

 cured ; and if I were a man I would stride off and 

 try my luck this very minute. I have only just 

 realized that there is such a great curiosity 

 among us. 



Clematis indivisa, clinging about on trees in the 



