90 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



Rhipogonum scandens (The Climbing Rhipogonum). 



This is one of the most curious plants of the order. No 

 one who saw for the first time the black, snaky liane-like 

 stems of the supple-jack, would dream of relegating this plant 

 to the lily tribe. The flower is green and inconspicuous, and 

 is borne in long spikes or racemes, at the end of the shoots. 

 It is only by noting the number and arrangement of petals 

 and stamens, that one can realize that the Rhipogonum is a 

 lily c This strangling creeper forms one of the chief obstacles 

 in getting through the bush ; and occasionally renders progress 

 impossible. The brown and black ropes hang and twist 

 everywhere, binding one tree to another, and forming loops 

 and nooses above and below. The leaves, which are seen 

 in any number only near the ends of the shoots, are opposite, 

 oval, and entire, thick and leathery, with a metallic sheen 

 upon them, The berries are oval, pointed at the end, and of 

 a brilliant scarlet. The wiry stems are so strong, that they 

 may be used as cords without fear of breaking, Rope-ladders 

 have been made from them, for the purpose of climbing the 

 steep cliffs which shut in the Wanganui River. They are 

 used also in basket-work. In the Chatham Islands, we hear 

 of native huts built of fern-posts, lashed together with supple- 

 jacks, and thatched with toe grass ; also of rafts formed of 

 the flower stalks of Phormium tenax, spliced with supple- 

 jacks. 



The roots of the Rhipogonum are used by bushmen as a 

 medicine, and the plant is sometimes called " Bush Sarsa- 

 parilla." The native name is Kare-ao, which is plausibly 

 interpreted to mean a twisting rope. Both islands, abundant. 

 Fl. Dec.-Feb. 



Genus Luzuriaga. 



Small, creeping, glabrous herbs, with stems knotted at the joints. Leaves 

 with netted venation, alternate. Flowers regular. Perianth of 6 leaflets. 

 Fruit a berry. A genus of two species, one in South America and one in New 

 Zealand. 



