60 Transact ions . 



Art. III. — Some Notes on the Botany of the Spenser Mountains, with a 



List of the Species collected. 



By R. M. Laing, B.Sc. 



\Rd'id before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 1st November, 1911.] 



Route. 



In December-January, 1910-11, we arranged a small party* to take pack- 

 horses and ascend the headwaters of the Waiau and the Clarence Rivers. 

 We left Hanmer, and *went by way of Jack's Pass and Fowler's Pass to 

 the out-station on the Ada. We camped near the foot of the saddle, and 

 explored the surrounding country botanically. Our next camp was in 

 Glacier Gully, a small tributary of the Waiau, some five miles farther to 

 the east. Tnence we crossed Maling's Pass to Lake Tennyson, in the 

 neighbourhood of which several days were spent. Bad weather, unfor- 

 tunately, prevented the ascent of any of the higher peaks. The highest 

 point attained was probably under 6,000 ft., on Mount Princess. Some 

 of the upper alpine plants may, therefore, have escaped observation. The 

 return to Hanmer was made via the Clarence Valley. 



Historical. 



The Spenser Mountains form a little-known district of the Southern 

 Alps, lying at the headwaters of the Waiau, Clarence, and the Wairau. 

 The district was first explored by Mr. W. T. L. Travers during the end of 

 February and the beginning of March, 1860. An account of this explora- 

 tion will be found in the Nelson Examiner of the 14th March, 1860. During 

 the trip he named " the Spenser Mountains in honour of the poet of that 

 name." The name is now often misspelt " Spencer." Maling's Pass is 

 so designated in honour of Mr. C. Maling, who accompanied Travers, and 

 who had seen the pass on a previous trip with Mr. Domett. Maling's 

 Pass leads from the watershed of the Clarence into that of the Waiau. 

 Tributaries of the Waiau were named by Mr. Travers after his children 

 — -the Ada, the Henry, and the Anne. Gelmisia Traversii was originally 

 discovered on the summit of the mountain between the Ada and the Anne. 

 Other novelties discovered by Travers in the district were Ranunculus 

 crithmijolius, R. Lyattii var. Traversii, R. Sinclairii, Pittosporum patulum, 

 Gnaphalium nitidulum, and Wahlenbergia cartilaginea. Of these, Gnaphalium 

 nitidulum has not again been found, unless, as appears likely (see subjoined 

 list), it is amongst the specimens collected by us. 



Since the time of Travers the district has apparently several times 

 been visited by collectors and botanists. However, there is no published 

 account of its botany, and the only list of species drawn up for it is a short 

 one appearing at the end of an article on the ascent of Mount Franklin by 

 Park (Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 18, p. 350). This contains seventy-eight species, 

 identified by Buchanan. Of these, about a fifth were not collected by us, 



* The party consisted of Mr. W. W. Rowntree, my brother (Mr. T. M. Laing), 

 Mr. C. E. Foweraker, and myself. My best thanks are due to Mr. Foweraker for 

 much valuable assistance in the field. Without it the work could scarcely have been 

 carried on. 



