30 Transactions. 



Art. VI. — Some Additions to the Flora of the Westport District. 

 By D. Petrie, M.A., Ph.D. 



[Read before the Auckland Institute, 3rd December, 1913.] 



Mr. Townson's fruitful investigation of the vegetation of the neighbour- 

 hood of Westport has made botanists well acquainted with the phanero- 

 gamic flora of this very interesting district. Early in the present year I 

 paid a visit of a few weeks to the scene of Mr. Townson's labours, and 

 largely through the kindness of Mr. P. G. Morgan, Director of the Dominion 

 Geological Survey, was able to examine a number of interesting localities 

 not usually easy of access. 



The additional species that I noted do not form an extensive list, as 

 very few of the plants native to the district escaped Mr. Townson's vigilant 

 search. One or two of fairly common occurrence have probably escaped 

 record by accident in handling so large a collection as he got together. 



Two or three of the species in his list appear to me to have been incor- 

 rectly identified. The Senecio so common near Cape Foulwind I should 

 without hesitation refer to S. elaeagnifolius Hook, f., and not to S. rotundi- 

 folius Hook. f. I examined a great many specimens of this shrub, and 

 found that the leaves, though more coriaceous than usual, are nearly always 

 longer than broad, in outline more or less ovate or ovate-oblong, and not 

 rarely waved or repandly toothed at the margin. At an elevation of 

 2,300 ft. or so on the Longwood Eange, Southland, specimens of S. elaeagni- 

 folius may be seen in the forest with leaves approaching those of S. rotundi- 

 folius much more closely than do any to be found near Cape Foulwind. 

 The occurrence of S. elaeagnifolius close to sea-level at Cape Foulwind is 

 not as surprising as might at first sight appear, since the vegetation of the 

 lowland water-logged pakihis near Westport is mainly that of subalpine 

 moors. 



The grass referred to Agrostis parviflora E. Br. seems to me the ordinary 

 small-flowered form of A . Dyeri, that grows in some plenty on all the open 

 lowland and submontane districts around Westport. As this grass was 

 collected at an elevation of 3,000 ft. on Mount Eochfort, it is on that 

 ground alone unlikely to be A. parviflora, which is not known to reach 

 elevated habitats. 



The Raoulia that grows sparingly near the top of Mount Eochfort, and 

 in great abundance on the shingly spurs near the tops of the Buckland 

 Peaks, is certainly not R. mammillaris Hook, f., as Mr. Townson's list has 

 it, but is in all likelihood a form of R. eximia Hook, f . with more truncate 

 leaves and barer leaf-tips than that species usually shows. 



The Celmisia coriacea Hook. f. of Mr. Townson's list I am describing 

 elsewhere in this volume (p. 33) as a new species. It occurs near sea-level 

 at Charleston, where it is most variable in size, and is the commonest 

 Celmisia above the bush-line on the Buckland Peaks. It seems doubtful if 

 C. coriacea occurs on the mountains flanking the West Coast in the Buller 

 district. 



The list of additions is as follows : — 



Hoheria populnea A. Cunn. var. vulgaris Hook. f. Buller Gorge, near 

 Inangahua Junction, and Mokihinui Eiver, near the mouth. 



Tillaea Sinclairii Hook. f. Damp hollows in sandhills north of Westport 

 Harbour. 



