File:Plants of New Zealand (1906) (14784232455).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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he whip-cord veronicas, on account of the closeresemblance of their stems to a piece of green whip-cord, orthe plaited thong of a whip-lash. It has also been termedthe mimetic series. Some resemble a cypress so closelyas to deceive any but the expert botanist ; others mimicthe tamarisk, and another might well be taken for a lycopod.There are few, if any, more remarkable forms than theseamongst our flowering plants. Various endeavours havebeen made to explain their extraordinary appearance,—anappearance, however, that is largely shared by certain species THE SNAP-DRAGON FAMILY 373 of Helichrysum belonging to the sub-genus Ozothamnus (v. fig.121). A partial clue to their origin is to be found in the factthat all species of this section, under certain circumstances,put forth leaves of a type, widely distinct from, and muchmore normal, than the scale-like plates with which they areusually covered. A similar phenomenon appears in manyother aberrant plants. Other New Zealand species which
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Fig. 1-23. 1. V. propinqua. 2. V. tetrasticba. 3. V. Hectori. 4. V. Armstrongii.5. V. elliptica. 6. V. epacridea. 7. V. cupressoides. show a like heterophylly, as it may be termed, areHelichrysum (Ozothamnus) coralloides, Baoulia hryoides, andBaoulia Tnammillaris. There can be but little doubt that, ineach case, the larger leaved form is the ancestral one. Itmay therefore be expected, in accordance with the ordinarylaw (v. p. 256), that the seedling form in its developmentwould pass through a stage with large leaf-surfaces. Sucha stage is often termed a reversion shoot. Reversions 374 PLANTS OP NEW ZEALAND to the earlier form are, however, not necessarily confined toyoung plants, but are also sometimes found upon the maturespecimen. Unfortunately, but little attention has hitherto been givento the leaf-forms of the whip-cord Veronicas. Prof. Goebel,

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