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NOTES ON SOME PLANTS OF OTAGO, NEW ZEALAND. 329<br />

tain, Nelson, in Dr. Sinclair's herbarium, much resemble in the beauty<br />

of the large flower and in general aspect our M. alpestris Schmidt,<br />

whose representative in New Zealand it is in some measure.<br />

Of a total of 9 New Zealand species of Myosotis, at least 7 occur in<br />

Otago. Some of them are subalpine or alpine, ascending to 6000 ft.<br />

(e. g. M. Hedori, Hook. f.).<br />

Genus VIII. Typha.<br />

1. T. angustifoUa, L. East Taeri swamps ; Fluegand lagoon, Lower<br />

Clutha, W. L. L. North Taeri swamps (Martin) ; swamps on banks<br />

of the Clutha (Buchanan) ;<br />

(Sullivan).<br />

swamps of the Matukituki, Wanaka Lake<br />

Dr. Hooker, both in the Flora N. Z. and the Handbook (p. 276),<br />

restricts its distribution to the North Island. But here he is certainly<br />

in error, inasmuch as the plant is more or less abundant in the<br />

swampy grounds of the low lands throughout the South Island also.*<br />

To the settler the plant is well known as the " Eaupo " or " Bul-<br />

rush ;" and the swamps in which it is plentiful—sometimes to the exclusion,<br />

for the most part, of other phsenogamic vegetation—are known<br />

as *' Eaupo swamps" (" VVaraupo" of Dieflfenbach), just as "Flax<br />

swamps" or "Tussock swamps" are spoken of. So familiar, indeed,<br />

are the plant and its economical applications to the natives, that not<br />

only as a whole, but special of its parts or products have one or more<br />

Maori designations. Thus the plant as a whole is their " Karito,"<br />

" Kopupungawha," " Kopu-pungawa" (or its contraction " Ngawha"),<br />

or " Koware." The root, which is eaten both raw and cooked by the<br />

natives,t is " Koreirei" or " Kouka."$ The down of the seeds is<br />

" Huue" (" lahune" of the East Cape and " Tahunga" of the Ngapuhi<br />

dialects ; and a sort of cake or bread made of the flower-poUen, as<br />

well as the pollen itself, are the " Pungapiinga" (East Cape dialect).<br />

Prior to, and in the earlier days of, the colonization of New Zealand,<br />

the huts (or " Whares") both of settlers and natives were, frequently<br />

at least, lined and thatched, if not sometimes also built, of " Raupo"<br />

stems ; but few of these huts or of the " Whares " built, lined, or<br />

* The Middle Island of Dr. Hooter's ' Flora N. Z.' and ' Handbook.' Vide<br />

my ' Contributions to New Zealand Botany,' p. 7.<br />

t Thomson's ' New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 157.<br />

J A term also applied to Cordyline indivisa. While with " Koreirei " may be<br />

compared the word " Korari," which pertains to a much more familiar indigenous<br />

plant, Phormium tenax.<br />

VOL. VII. [NOVE<strong>MB</strong>ER 1, 18G9.] 2 A

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