VI 



CHAPTER V. 



THE VEGETATION OF THE COAST. Page. 



General remarks Adaptations of coastal plants Physical and physiological 

 dryness Plants of sandy and rocky shores Seaweeds Sandhills 

 Reclamation of dunes The wonderful mangrove Coastal shrubberies 

 Vegetation of rocks and cliffs Salt meadows and salt marshes 

 Stephen Island, the home of the tuatara The Three Kings and Poor 

 Knights Islands . . . . . . . . . . 63 



CHAPTER VI. 

 THE MEADOWS. 



European contrasted with New Zealand meadows The meadows of the 

 Dominion How meadows are formed by nature Valuable indigenous 

 grasses Flowers of the lowland pastures The mountain meadows 

 Colours of the alpine flowers Buttercups, ourisias, yellow forget-me- 

 nots An alpine desert Drought-resisting contrivances Peat-forming 

 plants 84 



CHAPTER VII. 



PLANTS OF FRESH WATER, SWAMPS, AND BOGS. 



Scarcity of aquatic plants in New Zealand Water-ferns The red Azolla 

 The pond- weeds The water- milfoils Fresh- water algae Vegetation of 

 hot springs Effect of plants on changing the land-surface Swamp 

 vegetation The niggerhead Economic importance of swamps New 

 Zealand hernp Bogs and bog-plants Sphagnum and its peculiarities 

 Flesh-eating plants A vegetable trap . . . . . . 105 



CHAPTER VIII. 



PLANTS OF THE OUTLYING ISLANDS. 



A goblin forest The ancient forest of Antarctica A seashore cushion- 

 plant Finest floral display outside the tropics Giant tussocks 

 Young albatroses Macquarie Island The Snares Beetles, spiders, 

 and amphipods of the Bounties Peculiar trees of the Chathams A 

 lovely shrub The tree-groundsel The great forget-me-not The Ker- 

 madec Islands Tropical plants on the Kermadecs.. .. .. 114 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE NATURALISED PLANTS. 



Plant colonists Origin of the naturalised plants Method of arrival 

 Statistics Distribution Definition of term " weed ' Origin of weeds 

 -Bracken, manuka, and piripiri as weeds W'eeds and human beings 

 The horned poppy and marram-grass History of a pasture Micro- 

 scopic weeds A Chatham Island orchard The struggle between native 

 and introduced plants Equipment of aggressive species Origin of a 

 gum forest Plant-sanctuaries Esthetic value of acclimatised plants 

 -Hedgerow plants Likelihood of new weeds Eradication of native 

 species . . . . . . . . . . 126 



