File:Plants of New Zealand (1906) (14597533628).jpg

Identifier: plantsofnewzeala1906lain (find matches)
Title: Plants of New Zealand
Year: 1906 (1900s)
Authors: Laing, R. M. (Robert Malcolm), b. 1865 Blackwell, E. W. (Ellen W.)
Subjects: Plants
Publisher: Christchurch : Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd.
Contributing Library: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical Garden
Digitizing Sponsor: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical Garden

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nd not a primitive condition. Clematis indivisa (The Entire-leaved Clematis.) This is one of the best-known of the hush flowers. The leaves are thickand glossy, and the flowers have no petals, the sepals acting both as protectiveand attractive organs. Both islands. Fl. Sept.-Oct. Maori name Pua-wanangayPikiarero. Plants of C. indivisa, with their festoons of starry whiteflowers, looped from tree to tree, light up with delicate beautythe edges of the dark bush in the early spring. It is not to bewondered at that the northern Maoris gave to this species thename of Pua-w^ananga, i.e., the sacred or sanctified flower. Its.feathery wreaths of seed are almost as beautiful as the flowers,.each seed in the cluster bearing a long silky, silvery plume,,which enables the wind to carry it to a distance. Pairs ofrudimentary leaves are found beneath each flower-stalk, andthese are believed to remain undeveloped, so that the flow^ei- *Trans. XIII., p. 248. BUTTERCUP, ANEMONE, AND CLEMATIS FAMILY 165
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Fif,. 47. Clematis indivisa—Pistillate flowers (nat. size). Fancy could almost declareThat great Ophiucus, down-hurledFrom his throne in the skiey star-world,Had been caught with his glittering gems,Mid those giant entangling stems. Domett. 166 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND may not be shaded, or hidden from the sight of the insectsupon which it depends for pohination. The leaf-stems coil themselves spirally round the branchesof other trees, and so drag the plant up to the sunshine, whichis needed for the expansion of their flowers. When youngsthese leaf-stems are remarkably sensitive, and, if gently rubbed,will turn in the direction from which the friction comes.They will seize, therefore, and coil themselves around anytwig or branch against which they are blown by the wind. Clematis hexasepala (The Six-sepaled Clematis). Very similar to C. indivisa, but smaller. Found throughout the islands,but not so commonly as the former. Fl. Sep.-Nov. Clematis afoliata (The Leafless Clematis). A remark

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