093° 
PISONIA BRUNONIANA, Endlicher. 
THE PARAPARA., 
ORDER—NYCTAGINEZA. 
(Plate CXL.) 
Mr. CoLrenso informs me that this plant is the parapara of the northern 
Natives, and I learn from the Ven. Archdeacon W. L. Williams that it is the 
 puwha-ure-roa ”’ of the East Cape Natives. It is sometimes termed the ‘‘ bird- 
catching plant” by settlers and bushmen. Its large dark-green leaves render it 
a striking plant, but its flowers are by no means attractive. It will always be a 
plant of special interest, as small birds are often found captured by its viscid 
fruits, to which their feathers become attached as effectively as if they were 
glued. 
Pisonia Brunoniana varies from a shrub to a medium-sized tree nearly 
soft. high, with a trunk from aft. to 3ft. in diameter. The leaves are from 4in. to 
‘ r4in. long, and from 2in. to 6in. broad, usually opposite, rarely three together, 
or solitary, and are carried on leaf-stalks from jin, to #in. in length: they are of 
| thin texture, quite entire, and may be obtuse or acute. ‘The flowers are pro- 
duced in panicles at the tips of the stout branchlets, and are carried on slender 
pedicels; ‘they are from 4in. to 8in. long: the branches of the panicle may be 
clothed with fine hairs or nearly smooth. ‘There is no separate calyx or corolla ; 
| the perianth is tubular, from }in. to }in. long, somewhat bell-shaped at the 
mouth, with five angles: the stamens vary in number from six to ten, with the 
filaments expanded and united at the base: the ovary is one-celled, with an 
erect style, crowned by an expanded lateral stizma. The fruit consists of a 
single seed invested with a very thin coat, and enclosed in the persistent 
perianth, which is longitudinally ribbed, and is extremely viscid: it is narrowed 
immediately below the mouth. The flowers are usually bisexual, but flowers 
with abortive stamens may sometimes be met with. 
PROPERTIES AND USEs. 
The wood of Pisonia Brunoniana is white, straight, and even, but brittle: its 
economic value is unknown. 
The viscid fruits attract large numbers of insects and spiders, which become 
glued to the fruit, and in their turn attract numerous small birds, who meet with 
the same unhappy fate, and become so firmly attached to the fruits that unless 
released they perish miserably. Although the plant has long been known to the 
Maoris as a tree which captures birds, the notice of settlers was only drawn to 
this singular property five years ago, when Mr. R. H. Govett recorded the fact.* 
He stated that he had been informed by a letter from New Plymouth that two 
““white-eyes’’ and a sparrow had been found glued by their wings to the viscid 
| seed-vessels: his correspondent added: ‘‘ Thinking I was doing a merciful act, 
| I collected all the branches with seed on them I could lay hands on, and threw 
- 
* Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. XVI., Dp. 364. 
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