176 Transactions. 



And farther on— " But it was soon found to have a wide distribution on 

 the eastern side of the Southern Alps, and is now known to extend from 

 the northern portions of the Mount Arthur Range southwards through the 

 Canterbury Alps to the south-west of Otago. ... I am not aware, 

 owever, that it occurs in any locality well on the western side of the 

 watershed of the Alps." 



The above statements, though topographically true in our present state 

 of knowledge, neglect the ecological viewpoint. There are two distinct 

 classes of shingle-slips — the one very dry on the surface and situated beyond 

 the average limit reached by the western rainfall, and the other not by any 

 means so dry a station, since it lies within the wet area. These two classes 

 of shingle-slip are clearly defined by their plant inhabitants. A dry or 

 eastern shingle-slip contains that wonderful assemblage of which the follow- 

 ing, to cite only a few, are characteristic : Craspedia alpina, Notothlaspi 

 rosulatum, Poa sclerophylla, Ranunculus Haastii, Stellaria Roughii, Veronica 

 epacridea. On the other hand, the western shingle-slip contains none of 

 the above species ; in fact, there are but few plants common to both — 

 e.g., Epilobium pycnostachyum is one. The species of Haastia, too, are 

 an especially good index. On an eastern shingle-slip (using the term 

 ecologically and not as used in the quotation above) Haastia recurva is 

 alone to be found, but on a western shingle-slip it is absent, being repre- 

 sented by H. Sinclairii. So, too, the dry east gives Veronica Haastii, but 

 once well into the area of excessive rain it is V. Haastii var. macrocalyx. 



As for Haastia Sinclairii not having been found to the west of the actual 

 Divide, I suspect this is chiefly due to the fact that shingle-slip is not 

 much in evidence on the west, speaking comparatively, and also that, the 

 North-western Botanical District excepted, few collections have been made 

 on mountains possessing shingle-slips, these true western mountains being 

 almost entirely unexplored botanically. 



37. Hymenanthera crassifolia Hook. f. 



Hymenanthera crassifolia Hook. f. was originally a mixture of Scaevola 

 novae - zelandiae A. Cunn., now known as Hymenanthera novae-zelandiae 

 (A. Cunn.) Hemsley, and plants from Cape Palliser and Nelson. These 

 latter, along with certain other plants, form H. crassifolia in its restricted 

 sense. But the distribution of the species is uncertain, owing to lack of 

 knowledge as to the limits of polymorphy to be allowed or the variation 

 which takes place not only in H. crassifolia but in the species next dealt 

 with — H. obovata T. Kirk. 



At any rate, so far as I know, true H. crassifolia is found in the Ruahine- 

 Cook Botanical District, on the coast both of the Wellington and Sounds 

 Subdistricts, whence it extends, but not in an unbroken line, to the coast 

 of the South Otago Botanical District. Certain inland plants have been 

 referred to this species, as also a Stewart Island plant, but all these deter- 

 minations must be received with caution. 



Although there is an admirable plate of H. crassifolia in the Flora Novae- 

 Zelandiae, there is no description easily available which deals with the colour 

 of the flower, and as this is an important character for identification pur- 

 poses the following description of the flower may prove useful. 



Description of Flowers of Hymenanthera crassifolia Hook. f. 



Flowers inserted on under-surface of twigs, numerous but quite hidden 

 from view on living plant, very small, usually solitary but close-set, her- 



