94 Transactions ' 



(3.) Where several plants occur in a line, from 2 ft. to 4 ft. apart, as 

 sometimes happens, this line takes no constant direction. 



(4.) The plants occur, roughly, in groups, but seldom close to one 

 another and not often very near any other plants. Only in one small 

 area were they found among tussocks (about a dozen altogether), and 

 here the tussock formation is peculiarly scanty. 



(5.) The whole number of plants I counted was seventy. Allowing for 

 possible errors and oversights, and portions not quite so minutely examined, 

 it is safe to say, I think, that the area does not contain more than from 

 one hundred and fifty to two hundred individuals, and I should think it 

 probable that there are not more than one hundred. 



(6.) In one space which was most carefully examined, and in which 

 the plants were as frequent as anywhere, the nearest neighbours of a par- 

 ticular plant of Ranunculus paucifoUus were : Poa acicularifolia, Lepidmm 

 sisymbrioides, Wahlenbergia albomargmata, Myosotis decora, Carmichaelia 

 Monroi var., and the introduced Arenaria serpyllifolia and Cerastium 

 glonieratum. The plants in the vicinity were on an average about 6 in. 

 from one another, and spaces about 12 in. square were frequently quite 

 barren. This would be a typical " open formation." 



In another case, not at all exceptional, at the other end of the area 

 examined, a plant of Ranuncidus paucifoUus was seen te have no other 

 plant nearer to it than 3 ft. ; at this distance was a small patch of Poa 

 acicularifolia ; a little farther away was one plant of Oreomyrrhis andicola 

 var. rigida, and at about the same distance one of Lepidium sisymbrioides ; 

 and 10 ft. away was one plant of Notothlaspi rosulatum. The rest of the 

 10 ft. circle was perfectly bare. 



To complete the account of the surface of the hollow it may be added 

 that areas of 12 yards by 6 yards were measured which supported no living 

 plant of any kind. These completely barren spots form a fairly large part 

 of the small available space. 



Associations of the Area. 



The small basin here described supports a limited community of calci- 

 phile xerophytes, of which Ranunculus paucifoUus is a typical member. 

 It supports also a good number of mesophytes, representing the usual flora 

 of the district, and a fairly large group of introduced plants. 



{a.) On the barest portions of the area, where the debris is deepest, 

 loosest, and, in dry seasons, presumably driest, the only plants are Lepidium 

 sisymbrioides, Oreomyrrhis andicola var., Oreomyrrhis andicola var. rigida, 

 the introduced Arenaria serpyllifolia, and occasionally MyosoUs decora. 



(b.) The usual open formation of the gentler slopes includes, besides 

 the plant under consideration, all the above-named, and in addition Pimelea 

 prostrata var., Notothlaspi rosulatum, Poa acicularifolia, Anisotome Enysii, 

 Cardamine heterophylla var., Carmichaelia Monroi or nana, Wahlenbergia 

 albomarginata, Anisotome aromatica ; and, more occasionally, Ranu'iiculus 

 Monroi var. dentatus, Senecio Haastii, Crepis novae-zelandiae, Raoulia 

 australis, that variety of Epilobium novae-zelandiae which is distinguished by 

 its generally reddish colouring and pink flower, and Myosotis cinerascens Petrie. 



All these plants are perennial, and all are very low in stature. 



These two — {a) and (b) — might be said to form a Lepidium sisymbrioides 

 association. This association presents a most singular and characteristic 

 facies. The general background is a glaring yellow, shading into pale 

 brown in certain patches. Upon this ground the scattered plants of 



