There are the koromiko bush with white and purple blossoms, and the white convolvulus which covers whole thickets with blooms, delicate as carved ivory, whiter than milk.

There are the starry clematis, cream-coloured or white, and the manuka, with tiny but numberless flowers.

The yellow kowhai, seen on the hillsides, shows the russet tint of autumn at the height of spring-time.

Yet the king of the forest flowers is, perhaps, the crimson, feathery rata.

Is it a creeper, or is it a tree?
Both opinions are held; both are right.