File:Plants of New Zealand (1906) (14597554248).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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grove of Hinau trees was considered a wealthyman, while to rob the grove of its fruit was regarded asa capital offence. The fruit was prepared in the followingway :—It was collected into the hull of a canoe, and soaked inwater. After a long steeping, the berries were rubbed betweenthe hands, the stalks and skins strained out, and the coarsegrey meal, left behind, was made into a cake, baked and eaten.This cake had a dark appearance, and was too oily forEuropean tastes. Rats are very fond of the kernel of this fruit, and borecleverly through the shell in order to obtain it. The bark of the Hinau makes an excellent blue-black dye,and was used by the Maoris for dyeing the black threads intheir garments. This bark contains over twenty per cent, oftannin, but is not much used. Tlie wood is difficult to burn,and might be employed with advantage where there is specialdanger of fire. In the Maori language Jii signifies to bleed oremit sap ; )f((n is a shrub or tree. THE LIME-TREE FAMILY 249
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Fig. 77. Elseocarpus Hookerianus (life size 250 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND Elaeocarpus Hookerianus (Hookers Elceocarpus). A smaller species, called Pokaka by the ^laoris. The flowers do not openout so widely as those of the Hinau, and are greenish-white in colour. Drupeblue, small. Found in both islands. Fl. Nov.-Jan. Malvaceae. The Family of Mallows and Eibbon-woods. Distribution.—An important and widely distributed faraily, occurringchiefly in tropical and sub-tropical countries. Of the 60 genera belonging to theorder, only four are found in New Zealand, and of these, three are endemic. The)\Ialvaceae are generally mucilaginous, and non-poisonous. The most valuablegenus is Gossypium. The delicate unicellular hairs which cover the seeds of theseplants, form the cotton so largely used in manufacture. The Hollyhock (AWuea), the tree-mallow (Lavatera), the Abiitilon, and theHibiscus, are much cultivated for their flowers. Hibiscus cannabimus is theDeccan Hemp of western India. A decoction

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