352 Transactions. 



From the above it may be gathered that what follows regard- 

 ing the vegetation is quite fragmentary — so much so, indeed, 

 that but for the fact that nothing whatever was known abou 

 the natural history of the Poor Knights I should not have ven- 

 tured to publish these notes. 



2. The Plant Formations. 



Everywhere on the Poor Knights, excepting in the most 

 unfavourable positions, such as faces of precipices, is an abun- 

 dant vegetation. This, so far as I could judge, consists of 

 three principal formations- — viz., cliff, tall scrub, and meadow. 

 There is also a limited amount of flat ground, more or less wet, 

 near the rocks where we landed on the north-east of the southern 

 island, where grow certain halophytes. This is treated below 

 under the heading " Salt Meadow." 



'6 



(a.) The Cliff Formation. 



The cliffs vary considerably in their slope, and on this the 

 richness or otherwise of their plant-covering chiefly depends. 

 Where quite perpendicular, as in many places on the east of 

 the northern island, plants — lichens excepted — are absent ; but 

 where the slope is more gentle there is frequently so abundant 

 a covering that the rocks are clothed with greenery. The 

 chief members noted of this formation were : Poa anceps, 

 Arundo conspicua (Gramineo?) ; Arthropodium cirrhaium, Phor- 

 mium tenax (Liliacea?) ; Rhagodia nutans, Salicornia aiistralis 

 (Chenopodiacea?) ; Mesembrianthemum australe {Aizoacece) ; Apium 

 prostratum (Umbcllifero?) ; Coprosma baueri (Rubiacece) ; Lo- 

 belia anceps (Campanulacea?) ; Metrosideros tomentosa (Myr- 

 taceo?) ; Poly podium serpens, Asplenium flaccidum var. (Filices). 

 Of these some play a much more important part than others. 

 For instance, in some places the succulent Mesembrianthemum 

 forms a close covering of bright-green ; in others, colonies of 

 the thick-leaved Arthropodium* cover some square meters of 

 the rock-surface, while near by the tall yellow plumes of Arundo 

 wave in the breeze. Poa anceps, so common as a coastal grass 

 in the north of New Zealand, in many places hangs in long 

 tufts down the rock-face; and Phormium tenax, its large clumps 

 of sword-like leaves a meter or more in length, stands out con- 

 spicuous from the cliffs. 



* To show how this plant can resist drought, a. plant which 1 collected 

 on the Poor Knights on the 28th February, and had kept between drying- 

 papers, was still alive and vigorous on the 14th April, at which date I 

 planted it in my garden, where it grew vigorously, and by the 1st June 

 has produced several roots more than 16 cm. in length. 



