64 Transactions. 



into the forest the introduced grasses disappear, the forest-floor becomes 

 damper, and moss appears on it. The bush is still fairly open ; distances 

 of 10 ft., to 12 ft. often occur between neighbouring trees. Here are patches 

 covered with a carpet of moss, with young beeches growing through. 

 Blechnum penna marina, Coprosma ramulosa, and occasional plants of 

 C. virescens? now appear, with here and there a young plant of Notho- 

 panax arboreum. Through all this portion of the forest cattle have been 

 running. 



In passing into the portions of the forest which stock have not 

 destroyed, the undergrowth becomes denser, but still consists of beeches 

 in all stages of development. Corysanthes triloba, Adenochilus gracilis, 

 and Chiloglottis cornuta are now to be found. As we ascend from the 

 river-flat, which is well covered with soil, the forest now becomes 

 stonier ; the trees become larger, but many of the larger ones 

 (1 ft. to 2 ft. in diameter) have fallen from some undetermined cause. 

 About a quarter of a mile from the margin a band of Nothofagus 

 Menziesii is found, while occasional plants of Senecio bellidioides appear 

 on the mossv floor. Veronica vernicosa becomes more abundant, and a few 

 specimens of Coprosma linariifolia appear. Here the edge of a bush- 

 creek is fringed with Muehlenbeckia axillaris, growing into long overhanging 

 sprays, giving the plant a very different appearance from its river-bed 

 form. Nothofagus fusca. in clumps, is found higher up the river-flat ; but 

 neither it nor N. Menziesii altogether replace the N. cliff ortioides, which 

 probably forms the greater bulk of the forest on to its upper margin. This, 

 at least, was the case in Glacier Valley, where it passes up into Gaya 

 Lyallii ; but the upper limit of the forest was not examined in the Ada 

 Valley. This may be placed at 800 ft, to 1,000 ft, above the bed of the 

 valley, and the sides are so steep that they are often swept by avalanches 

 of stones, which carry away the beech-trees. Their place is taken by 

 plants of the shingle-fan, and the beeches grow into this vegetation from 

 the sides, and probably in course of time will reoccupy the whole area. 



Sphagnum Bog at the Head of the Ada Saddle. 



The upper portion of the Ada Saddle is a flat open valley about 300 

 yards wide, with English pasturage (cocksfoot, Yorkshire fog, clover, sorrel, 

 musk, &c.) and southern beech (Nothofagus cliff ortioides) forest of a similar 

 type to that described in the Ada Valley some 500 ft. below. Aristotelia 

 fruticosa, Azorella trifoliolata, and Acaena Sanguisorbae occur on the forest- 

 floor, along with many of the plants already mentioned. 



The head of the saddle is occupied by a Sphagnum bog about 200 

 yards square, which divides the eastern and western watersheds. A small 

 pond appears in the centre of the bog. The edges are fringed with 

 Dracophyllum uniflorum, Podocarpus nivalis, Phyllocladus alpinus, and 

 Dacrydium Bidwillii. The bog is evidently rising, as in many places the 

 Dracophyllum is being buried. The Sphagnum is dotted with cushions of 

 Oreobolus pectinatus and 0. strictus. and clumps of Celmisia longifolia var. 

 alpina. Round the edges are Ourisia macrophylla, Celmisia, coriacea and 

 C. spectabilis, Heliehrysum, bellidioides, Microseris Forsteri, Senecio lagopus, 

 Schizeilema nitens, and Pratia angulata. Other species growing in some 

 quantity on the bog are Caladenia bifolia, Rostkovia gracilis, Elaeocharis 

 Cunninghamii, Schoenus pauciflorus, Car ex stellulata, C. Gaudichaudiana, 

 Cardamine heterophylla. Forstera Bidwillii, and Drosera arcturi. 



