268 Transactions. — Botany. 



mass of L. dura grows the large nettle, while below Apium 

 australe is abundant. On the dry solid rock where soil is 

 altogether absent L. dura is of very much smaller dimensions, 

 but I took no measurements. 



Shallow Peaty Soil underlaid by Bock. 

 As the rock weathers away and becomes flatter the vege- 

 tation described above becomes more and more abundant 

 until finally a considerable layer of peat results, which sup- 

 ports a plant population different in many respects from that 

 of the original rock. Te Whakaru Island offers an example 

 of such a station, and exhibits the gradual change from the 

 lowly vegetation of the flat ground close to the sea to the 

 grove of 0. traversii on the higher ground, many of which 

 trees are of the largest size to which that species can attain. 

 The open parts of the island are covered with a dense carpet 

 of Mesembryanthemum australe, some of which have red and 

 some green leaves. Here and there where the latter has not 

 taken possession, especially in the rather moist places, are 

 patches of turf consisting of Crantzia lineata, ^ Triglochin 

 striatum, Gotula imielleri, Pratia arenaria, Selliera radicans, 

 Schcenus sp., and Banunctdus acaulis. Sometimes the 

 Pratia forms large patches unmixed with any other vege- 

 tation. Where the surface of the ground is higher and the 

 soil probably deeper grows the endemic Gotula featherstonii 

 (Plate XIV.). This plant forms large colonies on the dry peaty 

 ground in which the mutton-birds make their holes, probably 

 the presence of the birds' manure defining the habitat of 

 the plant. It possesses a stout, smooth, upright stem, 

 13 mm. or more in diameter, which gives off about five 

 branches rather close together, which latter again branch in 

 a similar manner, the whole plant being from 15 cm. to 

 30 cm. in height. The leaves are soft and slightly succu- 

 lent, but not sufficiently so for water to be squeezed out of 

 them. They are crowded into rosettes at the extremities of 

 the branches, the internodes being very short. The whole 

 plant is of a greyish colour, and puts one in mind of the 

 biennial stock (Matthiola incana). The roots are stout, 

 strong, and woody, and form, with their rootlets, a mat, 

 which lays hold firmly of the adjacent soil. As to the 

 duration of life of C. featherstonii, there seems little doubt but 

 that the plant is a perennial. At Maturakau Myosotidmm 

 nobile grows in large clumps near those of C. featherstonii 

 (Plate XV.), all the rest of the ground being covered by 

 Mesembryanthemum australe, which also hangs in sheets 

 from the adjacent cliffs. On Te Whakaru Island a few 

 plants of Phormium tcnax on the peat and others on the 

 rocks testify to the former greater abundance of this plant ; 



