Laing. — Vegetation of Banks Peninsida. 357 



We are dealing, then, with an area which consists of long, moderately 

 stee]) hill-slopes, radiating out from the central heights, It is broken on 

 its outward sides by harbours, bays, and valleys, with steep cliffy sides. 

 There is comparatively little flat land. Alpine shingle-slips are completely 

 wanting, and screes are of rare occurrence. Bogs and swanips are of very 

 small extent, and consist of the damp spots in the neighbourhood of springs 

 and streams. Salt marshes and meadows, however, abound, chiefly in the 

 neighbourhood of Lake EUesmere. The highest hills rise above the forests 

 into subalpine grasslands. On three sides — the north, south, and east — the 

 pejiinsula is surrounded by the ocean ; but on the western side it meets 

 the Canterbury Plains. The attached map will give the names of the 

 chief places referred to, and a list is provided with the situations of the 

 less known minor localities. 



Climatic. 



The climate of the peninsula may be described as typically insular and 

 warm-temperate. It differs somewhat from that of the Canterbury Plains, 

 which is more continental in type. 



Thus the plains are much colder on winter nights than the adjacent 

 hills. The temperature of Cashmere Hills on frosty nights is from 3° C. to 

 b"" C. higher than that of Christchurch, and on the hills at EedcUffs and 

 Sumner it is still warmer. There ice is rarely seen. The lowest tem- 

 perature that may be observed on the Cashmere Hills is about —8° C, 

 but winters pass in which it does not fall below —4° C. or —5° C. 

 Even in midwinter the days are often bright and warm, and the tem- 

 perature in the lower valleys is as high as 15° C. in the shade. Frosts 

 may occur on the plains in any month of the year, but on the neighbour- 

 ing hills they are almost unknown between September and April. Thus 

 in the beginning of November, 1918, an unusually severe frost (—7° C.) 

 occurred in Christchurch. This was so slightly felt on the hills that 

 tomatoes and potatoes remained unchecked and almost untouched by it. 

 The conditions on the hilltops have been but little studied, though, of 

 course, the temperatures there must be considerably lower both in summer 

 and winter than those at the foot. The temperature range through the 

 year on the lower portion of the hilLs is comparatively small, but reliable 

 records are difficult to obtain. Probably the difference of average tem- 

 perature is not more than 8° C. or 9° C. between a month of winter and 

 one of summer, though the maximum temperature in summer is often 

 com])aratively high, and the thermometer may even rise above 33° C. In 

 the warm, sheltered valleys on the north side of the peninsula the con- 

 d tions must approach the warm-temperate, and this is shown in the fact 

 that many typical North Island plants find here their southernmost limit. 

 (A list is appended, pp. 369-70.) 



The rainfall varies in different localities, but as comparatively few 

 records have been taken on the peninsula it is impossible to give detailed 

 results. Plowever. the average probably varies from about 25 in. (Con- 

 valescent Home, Cashmere Hills) to about 50 in. or 60 in. (on the top of 

 Mount Herbert). A series of careful observations extending over nineteen 

 years (1899-1918) at Pigeon Bay, taken by Mr. E. Hay, give an average 

 of 29"5 in., with a maximum of 39-5 in. in 1913 and a minimum of 16 in. 

 in 1915. The rainfall in th(^ outer portions of the area between Pigeou 

 Bay and Akaroa is no doubt higher than this. [n the latter place the 

 records show an average of 45 in. Between Timutimu Head and Birdhng's 

 Flat there is aoain a reduction in the rainfall, for the Akaroa Hills cut off 



