BOTANY. 
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supple-jack winch climbs to the top of the highest trees, and 
so mats them together that it renders the forest impassable, 
except where a path has been cut; the plant is used for binding 
fences, and in building houses ; it has a fragrant flower, and 
bears bunches of red berries, upon which the pigeon feeds. 
Fam. Iridece . The genus libertia has three species — grandi 
flora , ixioides, and micrantha. The Dianella Intermedia , Tu- 
rutuj a red flag-leafed plant growing on grassy plains, and 
bearing a white three-leafed flower. 
Fam. Orchideoe. Of the terrestrial orchideoe are — ( tkelymitra 
Forsteri , orthoceras strictum, microtis Banksii , acianthus rivu- 
laris , pterostylis Banksii , gastrodia sesamoides. The maikaika 
is the common name for all these ; a fine green and white one 
abounds in woods and swampy plains ; a small red one also in 
the marshy spots of the interior ; the perei , a large kind, is 
found in the woods, it produces tubers of considerable size, 
which are eaten ; a beautiful one, with a heart-shaped leaf, 
is also found in caves and damp localities, it bears a fine 
crimson or purple flower. As epiphytes there are Farina 
mucronata; the dendrobium Gunninghamii is a remarkable 
pendulous one. The bolbophyllum pygmeum is also of a 
similar character ; they are fragrant and a great ornament 
to the forest. 
Amongst the climbing plants which cling to trees for 
support, the most remarkable is the freycinetia Banksii , 
a monocotyledonous plant, belonging to the family of the 
pandanaceoe ; it chiefly attaches itself to the kahikatea and 
bears a white flower ; the bractese of its blossoms are thick 
and fleshy, and when ripe very sweet, with a flavor not 
unlike a luscious pear ; it flowers in spring or September, 
and the fruit becomes ripe in autumn, which is in March and 
April. 
Of the Piperacece there are two kinds, peperomia urvilli- 
ance , and the kawakaiva (piper excelsumj , the representative 
of the piper methisticum , of the Sandwich and Tonga Isles ; 
it is only used in New Zealand medicinally by the natives, 
who chew the root as a remedy for tooth-ache ; the settlers 
use the leaf as tea, and also make a very palatable beer from 
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