236 Transactions. — Botany. 



land Islands, and from the aspect of the vegetation and the 

 species of which it is composed, I think the following may 

 fairly be concluded : (1.) There are a great nmnber of rainy 

 days. (2.) The moisture, which can easily permeate the 

 peaty soil, will not readily evaporate owing to the almost 

 constant cloudy skies, these also tending to keep the air 

 full of moisture. (3.) There are very frequent winds, some- 

 times of great violence, accompanied by rain or sleet. 

 (4.) The winter climate is extremely mild, much milder, 

 indeed, than that of certain parts of the South Island of 

 New Zealand at sea-level, as, e.g., the Canterbury Plains. 

 Of course, when in winter a south-westerly wind accom- 

 panied by sleet is blowing one feels bitterly cold, and under 

 such circumstances an observer is apt to overestimate the 

 coldness of the climate. 



THE PLANT-FOEMATIONS. 



With regard to the plant-formations of the Auckland Is- 

 lands, and, indeed, those of the other Southern Islands visited 

 by me, I can only speak in quite general terms. The small 

 extent of country which I was able to examine in a very 

 limited time made it quite impossible to separate the vege- 

 tation as a whole into its component formations, or to pro- 

 perly limit or define those which were so hastily examined. 

 Therefore most certainly only a part of the plant-formations 

 are here dealt with, and these mav in some instances in- 

 elude more than one formation, or, on the other hand, be 

 too narrow in their application. There must certainly be a 

 number of formations which I never saw at all, such as sub- 

 alpine rocks, subalpine bogs, running-water formations, Sec, 

 while the open country, both of the high and low lands, most 

 likely contains more than one formation. The formations 

 here dealt with are: (1) Sand-dunes; (2) coastal rocks; 

 (3) forest, divided into (a) rata forest, (b) Olcaria lyallii 

 forest ; (4) lowland tussock ; (5) Pleurophyllum meadow ; 

 (6) subalpine meadow ; (7) subalpine scrub. 



1. Sand-dunes. 



Nothing is said regarding the sand-dunes either by Hooker 

 or Kirk. The former author certainly speaks of (46) Pratia 

 arcnaria as "creeping over the open sandy shores of En- 

 derby Island " ; but this information was supplied by Lieu- 

 tenant H. Oakely, so probably Hooker himself did not visit 

 Enderby Island, the only locality in the group, so Captain 

 J. Bollons informs me, where sand-dunes occur. These are 

 situated on the south coast of Enderby Island, and in front 

 of them is a somewhat extensive sandy beach (PI. XL), 



