THK MEADOWS. ( .)7 



SHINGLE-SLIP VEGETATIOX. 



The rocks of the alpine summits weathering away, and the rain 

 not being sufficient to bear all the debris into the valleys, an enormous 

 quantity of angular stones collects on the mountain-sides in many 

 places, which may form steep slopes for thousands of feet. As the 

 traveller wearily ascends these ' shingle-slips," as they are called, 

 the stones constantly slip beneath his tread, and slide down the slope. 

 Numerous large grasshoppers, grey as the shingle, leap from beneath 

 his feet, an occasional black butterfly flits through the air or rests 

 upon a rock, while overhead may fly screaming that famous bird the 

 kea. All is a scene of utter desolation : it is, in truth, an alpine desert. 

 Yet many of the meadows must have begun their career as shingle- 

 slips, and all transitions may be noted from the one to the other. 



To the shingle-slip proper belongs a most peculiar series of plants. 

 They have several characteristics in common. All have long roots 

 and are low- growing. Many are succulent. Most are of a colour 

 similar to the shingle. Some have leaves of rather an indiarubber- 

 like texture, and one, at any rate, is covered with an exceedingly 

 woolly mass of hairs. These shingle-slips become burning hot in the 

 sunshine, and yet in the evening of the same day may be icy cold. 

 At some distance below the surface the stones are wet. Here are a 

 few of the plants to be found in such situations : A stiff-leaved grass 

 (Poa sderophijUa) ; a buttercup (Ranunculus Haastii] ; a plant of the 

 carrot family (Aciphytla camosida) ; a daisy, jet black, and with 

 stamens like golden pin-heads (Cot id a atrata] ; one of the pink family 

 (SteUaria Roughii) ; the curious and sweet-scented penwiper plant 

 (Notoihlaspi rosulatum] (fig. 46); and a fleshy - leaved lobelia 

 (L. Roughii). A piripiri, too (Acaena ylabra), is almost confined to this 

 peculiar station. These plants do not grow closely side by side. They 

 are few and far between, and without close observation the slopes 

 look quite bare. Occasionally a trailing - veronica (V. epacridea] 

 sprawls over the stones, and is frequently accompanied by a smaller 

 species of the whipcord form, V. tetrasticha. 



On the shingle-slips the wonderful vegetable-sheep are encountered. 

 These grow not on the shingle, but on the rocks which the 

 stones have nearly buried. Large examples form great hummocks, 

 6 ft. long by 3 ft. across, or even more. Really they are shrubs 

 of the daisy family, and are provided with a thick, stout, woody 

 main stem and strong roots, which pass far into the rock-crevices. 



