17(5 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



The tawa seed provides the Maori with two proverbs : 



Ka mahi te tawa who M te riri ! 



Well done tawa kernel fighting away ! 



He tawa para ! He whati kau taana. 

 A tawa pulp ! He only runs away ! 



Fig. 51. Beilschmiedia Tarairi ( nat. size). 



The hard date-like stone of the tawa fruit symbolizes the 

 hero, whilst the fleshy pulp is the emblem of the coward. 



Genus Cassytha. 



Herbaceous plants, leafless, parasitical upon shrubs, to which they attach 

 themselves by suckers. Stems very slender. Flowers in heads, spikes or 

 panicles. Perianth of 6 segments. Stamens 12, 3 of which are imperfect. 

 Anthers 2-celled. Fruit enclosed in the fleshy perianth. A large genus, chiefly 

 Australian. (Name from the Greek, signifying the dodder, in allusion to the 

 resemblance between the two plants). 1 sp. 



