178 Transactions. 



Art. XXVI. — The Leaf-anatomy of some Trees and Shrubs growituj on 



the Port Hills, Christchurch. 



By Miss L. A. Suckling, M.A. 



Communicated by Dr. Charles Chilton. 



[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 6th August, 1913.] 



The following paper contains an account of some of the points in the leaf- 

 anatomy of some trees and shrubs growing in the patches of forest still 

 remaining on the Port Hills, Christchurch. It forms a part of a more com- 

 prehensive report on the " Plant Ecology of the Forests on the Port Hills '" 

 which was prepared as an honours thesis for the University of New Zealand. 



By way of introduction I give a brief description of the district and of 

 its ecological conditions. 



I wish to express here my indebtedness to Dr. L. Cockayne, F.R.S. ; for 

 much assistance readily given in the preparation of the thesis. 



Description of the District. 



About seven miles south of Christchurch is Lyttelton Harbour, sur- 

 rounded on its three sides by hills. " Port Hills " is the name given to 

 that part of these hills which lies between Lyttelton and Christchurch, but 

 the name may be extended to include a greater length of hills, stretching 

 more to the south-west, as well as to the east. In this paper the name is 

 used in this extended sense, and includes the part running round the head 

 of the harbour, where the direction changes from east and west behind 

 Lyttelton along the north shore of the harbour, to south-west and north- 

 east till it becomes north and south at the head. To the north and north- 

 east stretch the wide Canterbury Plains, in which Christchurch is situated, 

 while on the south and south-west sides the hills slope down to the har- 

 bour, with practically no level ground between. The height above sea- 

 level of the highest peak within the boundaries of the part studied is 

 593-3 metres, being that of Cass Peak, at Kennedy's Bush, which is taken 

 as the south-west limit. Near the north-east boundary the highest peak 

 is 495-6 metres. The peaks are, as a rule, not much higher than the sur- 

 rounding hills, the average of which would be from 460 to 530 metres 

 above sea-level. Here and there the hills are rocky. 



The part of the district visited lies between Kennedy's Bush or Cass 

 Peak to the south-west, and the Bridle-path to the east. The latter is 

 a road over from Heathcote, a suburb of Christchurch nestling against 

 the hills, to Lyttelton. The forest occurring within these limits may be 

 taken as typical of all of that on the Port Hills. 



Ecological Conditions. 

 (a.) Climate. 



There is no meteorological station at the top of the Port Hills, so that 

 no figures can be given as to the different climatic factors at work there, 

 and it is near the top that most of the bush grows. However, the meteoro- 



