THK YK<;KTATIOX OF THE COAST. 



79 



are given off quite high up the trunk or from the branches ; but these 

 do not usually reach the. ground. Not infrequently the pohutukawa 

 is of a quite erect growth, as may be seen in many coastal forests 

 (fig. 36). It occurs on the coast from the Three Kings Islands to 

 Poverty Bay and Taranaki, and inland on the shores of Lake Taupo, 

 Waikareinoana, Rotorua, Roto-iti, &c. Other common coastal trees 

 in the north are the karo (Pittosporum crassi folium], P. um- 

 beUatum, and the whau (Entelea arborescens). On the trunks of the 

 pohutukawa the perching-lily (Astelia Banks ii) often forms enormous 



-, 1 



41 J3 



FIG. 36. Pohutiikawa growing a,s erect many-stemmed Tree in School-grounds. 



Kawakawa, East Cape. 



[Photo, L. Cockayne. 



masses, and this also clothes the coastal cliffs. These, even when fully 

 exposed to wind and sea, are abundantly beautified by the charming- 

 lily, Arthropodium cirrhatum. 



The coastal cliffs of east Maryborough in due season become scenes 

 of great floral beauty. Here the rather straggling shrub Olearia 

 insignis has its home. Its large, thick, and very leathery leaves, 

 buff on the under- surface, and its fine flower-heads, render it a con- 

 spicuous object. How a plant in such a position, growing as it does 



