280 Essays. 
commonly adulterated ;* the bark of the houhere (Hoheria populnea) as a 
demulcent ; the fragrant herb Mentha cunninghamii as a diaphoretie; the 
aromatic leaves of Angelica rosefolia as a diuretic and remedial in syphilitic 
cases ; and the roots of Taraxacunt dens-leonis as an alterative. 
(2.) Those which, from their known natural affinities, are believed to be 
valuable; from such the following are selected :— The spicy bark of the 
horopito (Drimys axillaris), a species ranking next to the well-known 
D. winteri of Cape Horn, which produces the valuable Winter's bark ; the 
intensely bitter bark of the kowhai (Sophora or Edwardsia grandiflora)—it is 
worthy of notice that both African and East Indian kino is produced by 
plants of an allied genus of the same sub-order ; the leaves of the wharangi- 
pirou (Melicope ternata)—as allied naturally to the genus Diosma, species 
of which genus produce the well-known buchu leaves, which the New 
Zealand Melicope also resembles in taste and smell; the kawakawa (Piper 
excelsum)—3many closely allied species of this genus (and of the next genus 
Cubeba) are extensively used as medicines in various parts of the world ; the 
aromatic succulent stems and roots of various species of Panax, and of Aralia 
—of which genera several species are used in medicine—and the roots of 
P. quinquefolium (a plant closely allied to some of our Panazes), are sold by 
the Americans to the Chinese for real ginseng root (P. ginseng); the 
astringent bark and diuretic seeds of Sapota costata ; the roots of the two 
mountain gentians, which are just as purely bitter as those of the officinal 
Gentiana lutea ; the aromatic bark of the tawa (JNesodaphne tawa), a plant 
belonging to the same natural order with those producing the cinnamon, 
cassia, sassafras, benzoin, and camphor of commerce ; and lastly, the wai- 
watua (Huphorbia glauca) may also prove useful as a medicine, seeing so 
very many species of the same genus have long been medicinally employed. 
31. Although the fitness and suitability of many parts of the North 
Island for producing all cereals and edible roots and vegetables, and most 
European fruits, have long been well known, and its great fruitfulness proved 
* Such is the demand for sarsaparilla, and the limited area where it grows, that (as is 
‘well known) it is greatly adulterated. The true sarsaparilla is obtained from Smilax 
sarsaparilla, but several distinct species are used, known in commerce as producing the 
Peruvian, Brazilian, Lisbon, and Jamaica sarsaparillas, and perhaps really but little 
inferior. Another kind, Tegs glycyphylla, has also of late years been introduced into 
medical use from New Holland; while the roots of three Ne e (Carex arenaria, hirta, 
and intermedia) are collected to make German sarsaparilla. The New Zealand plant 
Sip stig ee uci is not only very nearly allied to the pae: Smilax, but was by 
its fi rs, Banks and Solander, and subsequently by Forster, classed under that 
genus, from Vieh it only slightly differs. From its having been successfully (privately) 
used in New Zealand, and from its natural affinity, it is confidently hoped it will prove a 
Motul ana valuable article of ae bur n events, a far better substitute for the true 
St 
