PREFACE 



THIS little book is based on a series of ten articles 

 written by me for the Ly Helton Times, Dunedin 

 Evening Star, and Auckland Star, which appeared 

 during the months of April and May, 1907. To the 

 above journals I here tender my hearty thanks for 

 permission to reproduce those parts of the original 

 articles that seemed suitable. 



The text as it now appears has been changed in no 

 small degree- -much has been rewritten and amplified, 

 and several additional chapters have been added, parts 

 of two being founded on a paper I published originally 

 in the Young Man's Magazine; while Chapter IX, 

 dealing with introduced plants, is altogether new. 



As for the book itself, it is the first attempt to deal 

 with the plant-life of the New Zealand biological region 

 as a whole on ecological lines. The subject is pur- 

 posely treated in the most elementary manner ; techni- 

 calities are studiously avoided as far as possible, the 

 scientific names of the plants excepted, as the use of 

 these is obviously unavoidable. 



In the chapter dealing with the cultivation of New 

 Zealand plants special reference is made to school 

 gardens, for the guidance of such teachers as may use 

 this book. 



The subject-matter is, in part, the outcome of my 

 delightful wanderings for many years over the length 

 and breadth of the Dominion, studying the while the 

 plants as they grow naturally ; but, on the other hand, 

 I owe much to the writings of my predecessors and 



