187 



Leguminosje. 



Clianthus -puniceus^ Banks and Sol. One of the most beautiful of all 

 shrubs ; is too well known to require any remark, 



So23hora Utraptera, Alton. This valuable tree is very peculiar looking in 

 its young state, when its flexible sprays are so much interlaced, that it appears 

 almost incredible that fi-om the thicket of pliant twigs should be produced the 

 graceful straight-stemmed tree, the wood of which is unsurpassed for fencing 

 purposes. From the end of August, through September and October, its 

 racemes of yellow flowers make a handsome appearance. The young trees are 

 frequently injured by the attacks of a boring insect. From about midsummer, 

 through the early part of January, its leaves supply food for a caterpillar that 

 entirely strips its foliage, leaving the trees bare for two or three weeks. The 

 Kowhai prefers a cool moist situation, and even then it makes very slow 

 growth. On very bleak exposures a decumbent variety is frequently met with. 



RoSACEiE. 



Ruhus australis, Forst. This straggling fast-growing climber may be 

 usefully employed to conceal some unsightly spot. Its sharp recurved prickles 

 not only extend over leaves and sprays, they even defend its panicles of 

 fragrant blossoms, which perfume the air in the month of November. Some 

 day the distiller of perfumes may turn this shrub to account ; we have tried 

 experiments by en/leurage. Excellent baskets can be manufactui-ed from the 

 stems. 



Saxifrages. 



Carpodetus serratus, Forst. A small round-headed tree, with mottled 

 bark ; in its young state the leaves are small and rounded, as it grows up 

 they assume an oblong shape, handsomely variegated, the darker shade of 

 green following the course of the nerves. The finest foliaged specimens we 

 ever met with were growing in the bushes near the River Wilberforce. 

 Aboiit midsummer, its panicles of white flowers are produced in abundance. 

 Any fair soil suits the Carpodetus, which prefers a cool moist aspect. 



MYRTACEiE. 



Leptospermum scoparium, Forst. The Manuka is too well known to all 

 settlers to need description. There are few prettier sights than a patch of it 

 in November or December, when the whole scrub is a mass of white blossoms, 

 as though it had just received a light fall of snow. 



Leptosp&Tmum ericoides, Rich. The Bush Manuka, as it is called, attains a 

 considerable size, the leaves smaller, darker, and narrower than those of the 

 other species, the blossoms also are smaller and later in their season of 

 flowering. Both species under cultivation grow faster than is usually 

 supposed ; they are very exhaustive, their fine matted fibrous roots completely 



