8 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



New Zealand Club-Mosses (Lycopods) are also exceptionally 

 well developed, and are the largest of the order known. The 

 discovery of a number of the germinating spores of various 

 species in New Zealand is likely, before long, to add consider- 

 ably to our knowledge of the life-history and affinities of this 

 interesting order of plants. 



THE BUSH. 



" I am Tane the Tree-God ! 

 Mine are forests not a few 

 Forests, and I love them greatly, 

 Moss-encrusted, ancient, stately." 



DOMETT. 



The New Zealand bush can scarcely be said to show any 

 typical aspect. It reflects the prevailing lack of uniformity of 

 the plant associations. Consequently, it is impossible to describe 

 in a single epithet its chief characteristic. Indeed, so varied 

 is it, that one can often find in a single forest, as many 

 different kinds of trees as there would be in half of Europe ; 

 and these, not belonging to a few orders as do the European 

 trees, but to the most widely divergent families. Palm and 

 pine, rata and mangrove, cabbage tree and fuchsia, beech and 

 fern the Malayan and South American plant grow here in 

 apparent, if not real amity. At first sight, it would seem as if 

 the ends of the earth had been laid under contribution for 

 strange forms, which were afterwards assembled on these 

 islands, but a closer examination shows that this has not been 

 the case ; for, though the bush has quite a patch-work appear- 

 ance, most of our trees, as will be shown subsequently, have 

 come to us from Malaysia, or at any rate from Melanesia. 



There is, however, one undeniable characteristic of the 

 forests. They are gloomy, though it may be doubted whether 

 they are more sombre than those of many other regions. The 

 dark hue and leathery texture of the foliage, is no doubt due to 



