Cockayne. — On Subalpine Scrub of Mount Fyffe. 367 



minimum — 61° C, and the mean daily range 11 "4° C. Judging 

 from the plants cultivated in gardens at Kaikoura, and which are 

 never damaged by frost — e.g.. Pelargonium sps., and Albizzia 

 lophantha, Benth. — the minimum temperature as given above 

 seems too great, but Dr. Gunn informs me that the frosts are of 

 very short duration indeed. 



The average yearly rainfall for the above seven years was 

 908 cm., and the total number of rainy days ninety-nine. The 

 largest fall of rain recorded was 16 - 87 cm. on the 18th October, 

 1900. Snow rarely falls, and then only lies for a few hours ; 

 but on rare occasions a heavy fall takes place and the ground is 

 white for four or five days. 



As for the temperature of Mount Fyffe itself no positive 

 facts can be given. The atmosphere is at times very clear, and 

 then the solar radiation must be considerably greater than on the 

 plain. One has only to ascend the mountain on a perfectly 

 cloudless day to become well aware of this. Allowing the fall 

 in temperature to be - 5° C. for each 100 m., then the temperature 

 at the subalpine-scrub line would be 4 - 7° C. lower than at sea- 

 level. But such data as this may be very wide of the mark. 

 One thing seems fairly clear — namely, that on all the New 

 Zealand mountains, generally speaking, the cold of winter is not 

 nearly as severe as it is popularly supposed to be ; for New 

 Zealand subalpine plants — veronicas, for instance — are almost all 

 not hardy in the neighbourhood of London, but are killed or cut 

 to the ground if the frost be at all above the average.* The 

 length of time that snow lies on a mountain, and the limit of the 

 winter snow-line, is a matter of great moment with regard to the 

 plant-covering — in fact, the winter snow-line is, in my opinion, 

 the point of demarcation between the alpine and subalpine 

 regions, while the average distance to which an average winter 

 fall of snow reaches and remains for a day or two on the lower 

 slopes marks the beginning of the subalpine region proper. The 

 following is supplied by Dr. Gunn : The winter snow-line, is, 

 on Mount Fyffe, at a distance of 184 m. to 303 m. from the 

 summit, and from this point to the top of the peak snow lies 

 for six months during the year. An ordinary winter snowfall 



* Numerous instances could be quoted from the English horticul- 

 tural papers. The following must suffice. Dallimore, W., Veronica tra- 

 versii, "Garden," vol. lxvi, p. 391, 1904: "About London it is im- 

 possible to grow Veronica speciosa out of doors the whole year round, and 

 of the forty or fifty species in cultivation very few can be said to stand 

 unharmed through a winter of moderate severity. At Kew V. traversii 

 is found to stand the best, though in a severe winter it is damaged, but 

 when a succession of mild winters is experienced it becomes very strong 

 and sturdy, and grows into a bush 2J ft. or 3 ft. in height and 3 ft. to 4 ft. 

 through." 



