Cockayne — Plants of Ghat ham Island. 303 



the lianes. I was much struck when first examining Chatham 

 Island forests by their want of undergrowth and lianes, which 

 did not accord at all with Travers's description when writing 

 of the Moreroa Bush, thus : " The whole so interwoven with 

 our old friend the supplejack as to be almost impenetrable " 

 (51, p. 176). However, when visiting the Te Awatapu Forest 

 I saw clearly that the lowland forests were no longer in their 

 primitive condition. Messrs. Chudleigh, Shand, and Cox 

 have also all assured me that the forests were formerly very 

 much denser and lianes more abundant than is now the case. 

 In addition, at the present time the forest on the Horns is 

 undergoing an early stage of destruction by cattle, which have 

 only reached that part of the island recently. Almost every- 

 where are trees broken or, in the case of Piper excelsum, up- 

 rooted, while the ground is much trodden and seedling trees 

 and young ferns destroyed. 



Another change which concerns the proportional repre- 

 sentation of species in a forest-formation is destruction of 

 certain trees through animals eating the bark. Pseudopanax 

 chathamicus, Placjianthus chathamicus,* and Coprosma chat- 

 hamica very often suffer through this cause. Such trees being 

 destroyed, others easily and rapidly produced from seed take 

 their places, and so are now more numerous than formerly. 

 Mr. W. Jacobs tells me that, owing to this cause, the con- 

 stituent trees of the Moreroa Forest no longer exist in the 

 same proportion as they did twenty years ago. Certain plants 

 have been almost eradicated by grazing and uprooting. The 

 case of Myosotidium nobile has been already referred to. Aci- 

 phylla traversii, another very characteristic Chatham Island 

 plant, is now very scarce. Its leaves are greedily eaten by 

 sheep, and its thick tap-root is devoured by pigs. At the pre- 

 sent time isolated plants may be found in boggy ground in all 

 parts of the island, but large areas may be traversed without 

 encountering a plant. Even in the fairly primeval tableland 

 district it only exists in any quantity on the steep banks of 

 some of the smali lakes which are not easily reached by stock. 

 Veronica dieffenbachii and the other forms of Veronica closely 

 allied to that species are. according to Mr. Cox, greedily eaten 

 by sheep. These Veronicas, in consequence, are now confined 

 to rocks and banks of creeks or lakes ; doubtless at one time 

 they were much more plentiful. It is probable also that the 

 great sowthistle, Sonchus grandifolius, found now chiefly in 

 places inaccessible to stock, was at one time much more 

 abundant on the sand-dunes ; but I have no proof as to 



* This plant is aiso destroyed by the settlers, who at times use the 

 bark for making hats. The same remark als > applies to the palm. Other 

 trees, especially Olearia traversii and Pseudopanax chathamica, are cut 

 down for fencing- posts and firewood. 



