. The Popular science monthly . a and Cyathea, are abundant, while smaller ferns cover theground and hang from the trees. In our own flora only two familiesof ferns, the Osmundaceas and Polypodiacese, form any conspicuousfeature of the landscape; but at Ohakune all the seven time-honoredfamilies are present and abundant. Snow falls every winter, often a couple of inches deep on the was a great surprise to me, for I had always associated the filmyferns and tree ferns with rather tropical conditions, but here the snowcollects in the nests formed by the crowns of the larger ferns, whil
. The Popular science monthly . a and Cyathea, are abundant, while smaller ferns cover theground and hang from the trees. In our own flora only two familiesof ferns, the Osmundaceas and Polypodiacese, form any conspicuousfeature of the landscape; but at Ohakune all the seven time-honoredfamilies are present and abundant. Snow falls every winter, often a couple of inches deep on the was a great surprise to me, for I had always associated the filmyferns and tree ferns with rather tropical conditions, but here the snowcollects in the nests formed by the crowns of the larger ferns, while it•entirely covers the smaller filmy ferns. Two much-prized species, theprinces feather (Todea superba), a magnificent fern almost never seenin conservatories, and the kidney fern (Trichomanes reniforme) arevery abundant here. The object of the trip to Owharoa was to see the kauri forests (). The kauri (Agathis australis) is the most important timber tree?of New Zealand and it also furnishes the gum from which dammar. Fig. 2. Agathis australis, the Kauri, at Owharoa, New Zealand. A BOCND-TIIEAYORLD BOTANICAL EXCURSION 421 varnish is made. It reaches a height of 200 feet and a diameter ofeighteen feet; but this is exceptional, specimens eight feet in diameterbeing regarded as very large trees. The trunk is straight and sym-metrical and often measures a hundred feet up to the first branches,with a diameter of five or six feet where the branching begins; and,consequently, the lumber is very clear, closely resembling a very highgrade of white pine. The forest is not at all pure, for there are manyother kinds of trees, some of them not very important as timber. Themethods of lumbering are as wasteful as in our own country, the fallentimber being allowed to thunder down the mountain side, tearing upall the smaller trees in its path. Since the large kauris are thousandsof years old, some estimates running as high as 5,000 years, a timbercompany could hardly be expected to mak
Size: 1144px × 2184px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, booksubjectscience, booksubjecttechnology, booky
