BOTANY, 
43-3 
they certainly do appear to die away and be lost, but when a 
more favourable state returns, they are then again resuscitated, 
as in the instances alluded to, and thus cannot be said to become 
extinct.* This is not the case with artificially raised flowers; 
the horticulturalist well knows that every flower he raises, 
however luxuriantly it may grow the first year, will seldom 
last more than three seasons in the same locality, and soon 
disappears. This fact tends to prove that plants, like animals, 
have their proper habitations assigned them, and with few 
exceptions, they will not permanently flourish beyond them. 
Man, with his attendants, the dog, the cat, the rat, &c., may be 
styled denizens of the world; so some plants also, such as the 
dock, the clover, chick-weed, plaintain, &c., are carried where- 
ever man goes, and soon so greatly flourish, that in a few years 
it becomes almost impossible to say they have been intro¬ 
duced; these, however, are exceptions, and we cannot but con¬ 
clude that New Zealand, embracing the Auckland, Chatham, 
Macquarie, and a few other islands, forms a botanic centre as 
well as Australia, and other continents; the characteristic 
feature of the New Zealand forest being a dark glossy green, is 
a remarkable contrast to the glaucous color of the Australian. 
The number of species of plants already known in New 
Zealand, is six hundred and thirty-two, of which three 
hundred and fourteen are dicotyledonous or endogenous 
plants, and the rest, or three hundred and eighteen, are 
monocotyledonous and cellular plants. 
To what can this remarkable disproportion be due—so 
contrary from what is the case in other countries. We can 
only regard it as a proof, coupled with the total absence of 
animals, and the former existence of a large number of wing¬ 
less birds, that it has from most ancient times been cut off 
from other parts, and thus retained its primaeval flora: it is 
still in its fern age. 
* The same plants do not grow on cleared land that formerly occupied the 
same spot when it was covered with forest trees; a distinct class of vegetation 
makes its appearance as soon as the fire has passed over the ground. The 
same thing may be remarked with regard to the change that takes place among 
our forests; as one generation falls and decays, new ones of a different 
character spring up in their places.—See Back-woods of Canada, page 173. 
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