364 Transactions. — Botany. 



betulinus or Hoheria populnea, though I understand they 

 occur about Tuakau, a district I have not vet been able to 

 include in my notes. Weinmannia sylvicola, so plentiful in 

 many districts, is here conspicuous by its absence. In vain 

 have I explored the Karaka Flat, a most likely country, for 

 Dracophyllum urvilleanwn and D. sauarrosum. Nor have I 

 yet seen a single plant of Bliabdothamnus solandri in the 

 district ; and the same thing is noticeable of many other 

 plants. On the other hand, several plants occur in this 

 region, more or less plentifully, of which I have seen few or 

 none m other places I have visited. Melicytus micranthus 

 var. longiusculus occurs very sparingly. Hydrocotyle dissecta, 

 which according to the late Sir. Kirk is " a remarkably rare 

 and local lowland species," is here very plentiful in almost 

 every piece of bush. Recently I discovered an unusually 

 large iorm of this species, of which Mr. Cheeseman says, 

 "I have never seen Hydrocotyle dissecta so large as the 

 specimen you send." The graceful little plant Gratiola nana 

 is not uncommon in the swampy parts of the Karaka Flat. 

 Here also Utricularia novce-zelaudice, U. colensoi, and Drosera 

 spathulata occur freely. So far I have looked in vain for 

 D. pygmceum. Prasopkyllum colensoi is very rare in the dis- 

 trict ; in fact, I have only found one plant of this beautiful 

 and interesting orchid. The recently named Schcenus carsei 

 occurs sparingly in two localities. Bulbophyllum tuberculatum, 

 another very interesting orchid, originally discovered in the 

 Hawke's Bay District by Mr. Colenso in 1883, is plentiful on 

 the upper branches of trees in the swampy bush bordering the 

 Waikato River. I understand that this plant was not seen 

 after its discovery by Colenso until rather more than a year 

 ago, when it was rediscovered almost simultaneously by my 

 friend Mr. R. H. Matthews at Kaitaia, in the Mongonui 

 County, and by myself in this district. Mr. Petrie's Hydro- 

 cotyle hydropkila is not uncommon, and Myosotis spathulata 

 and Pterostylis graminca occur sparingly. 



Of ferns and allied plants, Hemitelia smithii (two plants 

 only), Lindsay a viridis, Ncphrodium thelypteris, and Marattia 

 fraxinea, the edible para of the natives, are of considerable 

 interest. But certainly the most interesting plant in this 

 class is Lycopodium scariosum, which occurs on a clayey bank 

 at only a few feet above sea-level. I understand this species 

 rarely occurs below an elevation of 1,000 ft. in the north of 

 New Zealand. 



In what remains of forest the trees of most frequent 

 occurrence are Beilschmiedia taioa, B. tarairi, Dysoxylum 

 spectabile, Pittosvorum tenuifolium, P. eugenioides, Hedycaria 

 dentata. Vitex littoralis, &c. Of those less plentiful, but still 

 frequently observed, may be mentioned Knightia excelsa, 



