316 Transactions. 



The smaller trees and the shrubs are represented by many more species 

 which grow chiefly in the more exterior portions of the forest, where the 

 light-conditions are more favourable. The shrub or low tree Paratrophis 

 microphylla is especially abundant. 



On the forest-floor grow certain herbs and ferns, the diffuse light causing 

 elongated thin shoots and broad membranous leaves, while seedlings of 

 the most diverse inhabitants of the forest are here found in considerable 

 numbers, forming a living floor of vegetation. 



From their tall supports hang the rope-like stems of the lianes, often 

 12 cm. in diameter. These stems, which belong to the various species of 

 Bubus and MuehlenbecMa, act as supports for still more lianes, the whole 

 ■often forming impenetrable tangled masses. Where the support has died, 

 or the liane slipped down, other stems form great coiling masses, extending 

 along the ground for several metres. The various twining-lianes, tendril- 

 bearers, and many scramblers climb on the smaller trees and the shrubs, 

 while the small shrubs and the herbs are excellent supports for the growing 

 juvenile lianes. 



The number of species of vascular plants in the forest is sixty-eight, 

 consisting of^Trees and shrubs, 35 ; lianes, 12 ; parasites, 2 ; herbaceous 

 plants, 12 ; ferns, 7. 



The lianes dealt with in this paper may be classified as follows : 

 (1.) Scramblers : Rosaceae — Riibus australis Forst. f. var. glaber Hook, f., 

 R. schnidelioides A. Cunn., R. cissoides A. Cunn.,* R. subpauperatvs 

 Cockayne; Onagraceae — Fuchsia Colensoi Hook. f. (2.) Eoot-cUmbers : 

 Myrtaceae — Metrosideros hypericiJoUa. (3.) Twining-plants : Polygonaceae 

 — MuehlenbecMa australis (A. Rich.) Meissn., M. complexa (A. Cunn.) 

 Meissn. ; Apocynaceae — Parsonsia heterophylla A. Cunn., P. capsularis 

 (Forst. f.) R. Br. var. rosea (Raoul) Cockayne. (4.) Tendril-climbers : 

 Ranuncidaceae — Clematis indivisa Willd. ; Passifloraceae — Tetrapathaea aus- 

 tralis Raoul. 



Before concluding this introduction, I wish to express here my indebted- 

 ness to those who gave me assistance in the preparation of this paper. 

 I especially wish to thank Mrs. Deans, through whose permission to make 

 investigations in Riccarton Bush the work was able to be carried out; 

 Dr. C. Chilton, C.M.Z.S., who supervised the preparation of the paper and 

 the laboratory -w ork ; and Dr. L. Cockayne, F.R.S., who suggested the out- 

 lines of the paper and gave valuable assistance in connection with the 

 iield-work. 



II. AUTECOLOGY OF THE LIANES. 



1. Fuchsia Colensoi. 



a. life-form. 



Although fairly abundant in the forest, the distribution of this species 

 indicates that the conditions required for its growth are an abundance of 

 moisture, but at the same time a well-drained soil. The species is most 

 abundant on the sides of and in the vicinity of the drains which run through 

 the forest, and, further, at the edge of the swampy portion of the forest. 

 In this swamp itself the species is entirely absent. The individual plants, 

 upon leaving the ground, give off numerous shoots, which may scramble 

 np among the branches of an overhanging shrub, or trail along the forest- 



* Dr. L. Cockayne informs me that there is some doubt as to what E. cissoides 

 A. Cnnn. really is, but the plant here dealt with is B. cissoides as defined by Cheeseman, 

 1906, p. 125. 



