Botany of New Zealand / George Bennett.

  • Bennett, George, 1804-1893.
Date:
[1831-32]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Botany of New Zealand / George Bennett. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    ‘ f, BOTANY OP NEW ZEALAND; BKINO A Description of Trees, Plants, (5fc. indigenous to that country. Bt G. Bennf.tt, Esq. F.L.S. M R.C.S. &r. Coprosma fetidissima, Forster. Karamu, or PatM, of the natives of New Zealand. Natural Family, Rubincear. Class, Pentandria. Order, Dygynia. The Coprosma fetidissima U a shrol) indigenous to NewZealund, and is named Karamu, or Patdt^, by the natives. I have usually found it growing on the banks of rivers, or in the vicinity of the sea coast; its leaves have a disagreeable smell when rubbed on the hand, which has occasioned its specific name; the flowers are solitary, and of a white co- lour ; the berries are of a bright red colour, and two-seeded. I collected specimens in flower on the banks of the River Wyk6r4, Bay of Islands, on the 8th of July, 1829. The leaves of t lis tree are used in one of the ceremo- nies among the New Zealanders, in which the Rakau Karakia, or praying slicks, are employed, (Rakau signifying a stick, or piece of wood, and Karakia praying). They are used by the chiefs of New Zealand, through the Tohunga, or priest, to discover the will of the gods, or spirits, respecting war, &c. The ceremony is as follows; — A stick, or piece of wood, is procured for every separate party, and a leaf of the Karamu is tied on each with the Vivi (Scirpus Sp.), or with flax. The Karamu leaf is on one side of the stick, a knot of the Vivi, or the flax which ties on the leaf, on the other ; it is con- sidered immaterial which is at first placed uppernaost. The sticks, or pieces of wood, are then laid in order on the ground, after which the chiefs and people retire to some distance, and the Tohunga, or priest, places himself a short distance from the sticks, and prays for a short time, after which the chiefs are desired -to approach; The sticks, oh being ex- .amined, are found all moved from their original places; some will disappear., which is considered a certain sign that the party they had intended to represent will be destroyed. Others will be found turned over; if the knot should be found turned down, the sign is consi- dered bad, because the Karamu leaf, which is supposed to represent the spirit, will be uppermost. On the con irary, if the knot should be uppermost, and the Karamu leaf underneatli, the spirit is considered defeated ; and it is therefore looked upon as a sign that the party represented by those sticks will be prosperous in their undertakings. The Miro Tree, of the natives of New Zealand. This is a tree of the natural family Coniferae, but the specimens collected were neither in flower or fructification. It is named Miro by the natives of New Zealand, and attains the Height of from thirty to forty feet, and from six to eight feet in circumference. The wood is hard, and of a reddish colour. It is not used by the natives for any particu- lar purpose. A gum-resin exudes from this tree, winch is of a dark-reddish co- lour, but is not used by the natives as a masticatory, like the other gum-resins, on account of its having a bitter taste. The tree is abundant on elevated land, and grows in good soil. Cryptogamia. Cyaihea dealbata. Ponga of the natives of New Zealand. This beautiful arborescent fern grows abundantly at New Zealand, on the de- clivities of hills, and is usually found enjoying the shade afforded in the forests by the towering and wide-spreading branches of the more elevated trees; it attains the height of fourteen or six- teen feet, and the length of the fronds are from three to five feet. Above, the fronds are of a dark-green colour ; un- derneath, of a beautiful silvery white, which gives to it when waving to the passing breeze a rich and beautiful ap- pearance. The trunk in circumference is seldom more than » foot to a foot and a half, and is, as well as at the attach- ment of the fronds, covered with a pro- fusion of chaffy scales. Externally the trunk of this tree is composed of a black substance, as hard as ebony, which is also continued into