Laing. — Vegetation of Baiih-s I'eniusnla. 361 



imperfectly known. The conditions there are somewhat unusual in New 

 Zealand. However, the ordinaiy salt marsh and meadow of the Banks 

 Peninsula district do not differ much from those found in adjacent parts of 

 New Zealand, and they have already been described for the Suumer Estuary 

 bv Mrs. Jemiings (Miss B. D. Cross).* At Teddington the association is very 

 similar to that at Heathcote, except that I have seen neither Carex litorosa 

 nor Scirpus maritimus there, though Scirpus maritimus occurs at Ohinitahi, 

 at the head of the bay The first plant to be met with in coming in from 

 the seaward is Salicornia australis, in dense cushions, with a small grass 

 (Atropis sfricta) growing through the cushions. At a level several inches 

 liigher appear Samolaa repeiis and SelUera radicans, followed by the sea- 

 side form of Cotnla dioica. By the side of the tidal guts are Juncus mari- 

 timus and Leptocarpns simplex, the latter in comparatively small quantity. 

 The onlv shrub present is Plagianthus divaricatus, which is plentiful on 

 the tidai flat and close to the coastal rocks where the shallow tidal flat 

 approaches them. 



(3) (4) Saitd-dxnes and Coastal Rocks. 



There are scarcely any sand-dunes on the peninsula, except those at 

 Sumner, and only small areas of sandy beaches ; consequently there are 

 few sand-plants to be noted. So far as I know, Spinifex and Pimelea 

 arenaria are quite wanting; and tici r pus f rondos as, Conrolruhts Soldanella, 

 Euphorbia glauca, Carex pumila, and other sand-plants by no means conimon. 

 On the coastal rocks Mesembryanfhemum australe is abundant, with Tetra- 

 (/oida expansa and T. trigyna, often trailing downward for many feet. 

 Rhayodia nutans occurs less commonly, and more rarely still Lobelia anceps 

 and Lepidium oleraceum. Vittadinia australis and Tillaea Sieberiana are 

 abundant here and inland ; but I have seen Tillaea moschata in only one 

 place. On the wetter rocks Samolus repens and iSelliera radicans reappear, 

 often with the fern usually called Asplenium obtusatum, a species which 

 requires further study. 



The drier coastal rocks and the adjacent clay banks, as has been 

 pointed out to me by Professor Wall, are the home of certain species of 

 rai'er ferns, and produce a little plant association which is as uncommon 

 as it is interesting. In addition to Asplenium obtusatum and A. luciduni 

 the following ferns, though found elsewhere, particularly haunt sucli 

 situations : Cheilanthes Sieberi, Nothoclaena distans, Polystichum Richardi. 

 Polypodium [Cyclophorus) serpens, and Adiantum qffine. The last-mentioned 

 has, of course, been much destroyed by picknickers and pleasure-seekers, 

 and 1 know only one or two spots at the edge of Lyttelton Harbour wliere 

 it may be now obtained, though it is common in the less frequented bays 

 of the peninsula. 



Professor Wall writes thus to me : ' There is a very peciihar and special 

 feature of the blufts and steep slopes surrounding Lyttelton Harbour, which 

 deserves mention. A hard, Ijarien rim of baked clay occurs between the 

 tussock land above and the rock below, in which grow Cheilanthes Sieberi 

 and Nothoclaena distans. Pottsf describes the formation very exactly, calling 

 the material ' cob.' In many places this rim is now invaded and over- 

 shadowed by other vegetation, but the pri]nitive state is still to be seen 



* Observations on some New Zealand Halophytes, Trans. A'.Z. J tist., vol. 43, 

 p. .54.5. 1911. 



t T. H. Potts, Out in the Open, p. 77, 1882. 



