Page:Reminiscences of Earliest Canterbury 1915.pdf/113

 Passion-fruit.—There is a native passiflora bearing a fruit which grows in long strings. The fruit is a favourite food for birds, but is not in request by man. The Maoris were wont to paint their faces with the pulp of the fruit, which is a little larger than a cherry, and of a delicate yellowish red colour.

There are many small trees and shrubs which have not been referred to, though some of them are very beautiful (as for example the Pohutukawa, and many other flowering trees and shrubs), as they are chiefly sought by horticulturists for ornamental purposes.

New Zealand is rich in ferns, producing about thirty-six families, and about 250 varieties.

As exotics many of our ferns, shrubs, and ornamental plants are sought after. I can recollect, in 1883, seeing a fine collection of our flowering shrubs in San Francisco.

Is profitable as an export. There are, I believe, as many as seventy varieties. That