272 Transactio7is. — Botany. 



mate branchlets pass upwards from the stem at a very acute 

 angle, thus bi'inging the leaves into an almost vertical position. 

 The leaves are short and narrow, + 14cm. in length x 1mm. 

 in breadth, concave and pubescent on the upper surface and 

 convex on the under-surface. They are so densely crowded 

 together as frequently to touch one another. Where this 

 scrub was tallest a stem measurgd 8 cm. or 9 cm. in diameter 

 at 90 cm. from the ground. Mixed with the Dracopliyllum 

 is Suttonia divaricata, but the amount present of this dense 

 shrub varies in different places. Where the scrub is tallest 

 there is mixed with it a small proportion of Dracophyllmn 

 longifolnini. Where the scrub becomes more open Coprosma 

 cuneata is a constituent, knee-deep, and so, much more luxuri- 

 ant than on the wind-swept hillside ; also, there are large 

 patches of Lomaria procera. The leaves of Dracopliylhnu 

 longifoliuvi are much more spreading than those of its vertical- 

 leaved ally, and the two species can easily be distinguished 

 from one another at some distance avvay. The scrub fre- 

 quently merges into the Danthonia meadow, and the two for- 

 mations thus become intermingled, or occasionally the large 

 grass may be a constituent of the scrub proper. In the 

 former case we have probably a line of tension between scrui) 

 and tussock meadow. Such mixture of tussock and scrui) 

 was especially noticeable on the north side of Lyall's 

 Pyramid, and is described at some length further on. 



The floor of the scrub varies both in the density and 

 character of its plant-covering accortiing to the openness of 

 the scrub and the moisture-content of the soil. Where the 

 scrub is extremely dense there is little on the ground beyond 

 a carpet of dead Dracophyllnvi leaves, sometimes 15 cm. in 

 depth. If the bushes are a little furtiier apart Aspidiuvi ves- 

 tituvi makes its appearance, m company with Lomaria pro- 

 cera, and seedlings of the different shrubs are common. With 

 still greater openness of the scrub Lomaria pirocera becomes 

 taller and more abundant, growing in company with stunted 

 Coprosmas and small plants of Dracophyllum sp. Here, too, 

 rather tall clumps of Lycopodium variicm are a conspicuous 

 feature, while where the ground is unoccupied by other vege- 

 tation is a carpet of mosses, liverworts, and lichens. Very 

 frequently some of these mosses or liverworts form mounds, on 

 which grows abundantly the filmy fern HymcnopJiyllum multi- 

 fidum ; or mosses, liverworts, and ferns may be mixed up witli 

 the prostrate branches of Coprosma cuneata. In this part of 

 the formation Epilobium linnaoides is always present to a 

 greater or lesser extent. 



Sometimes the various Coprosmas and Suttonia divaricata 

 are more abundant than the Dracophyllum, and in sheltered 

 places attain a height of l-7m. 



