416 Transactions. — Botany. 



Olearia nwnmularifolia, Hook. f. 



Coprosvia cuneata, Hook. f. 

 This is now being reproduced in the form of — 



Veronica subalyina, sp. nov., about 50 per cent. 



Olearia illicifolia, Hook. f. 



Senecio elceagnif alius , Hook. f. 

 And a few plants here and there of — 



Panax colensoi, Hook. f. 



Cassinia vauvilliersii, Hook. f. 



Gaya lyallii, Jack, and Hook. f. 



On the slopes of the neighbouring mountains it is quite 

 easy to tell of what the primeval scrub chiefly consists by the 

 colour of the vegetation, a reddish -brown pointing out the 

 presence of Dracophyllum, and a greyish-green that in which 

 PJiyllocladiis is the leading tree. 



These various sections described give a fair idea of what 

 the vegetation once was over the greater part of Arthur's Pass 

 and its vicinity, and of what is now coming into its place, 

 where destroyed by fire. Some of the sections I was, of 

 course, able to examine with greater care than others, while 

 a very wet season and other botanical work hindered my re- 

 porting on certain very interesting portions of the area. I 

 ascended the mountains on both sides of the pass more than 

 once to a considerable altitude, but, beyond noting that the 

 fire reached to 300 m. above the pass in places, took no notes; 

 such at the extreme limits of the fire should be of great inter- 

 est. To some extent those taken at 1,000 m. up the Otira 

 "Valley supply this want. Looking over these notes, the fol- 

 lowing conclusions seem to be fairly justified :— 



1. That subalpine scrub such as that in the Arthur's Pass 

 district, after fire, is usually re-established, but in a different 

 form to that which it had before the fire. 



2. That the nature and amount of its re-establishment de- 

 pends in large measure on the situation of the original scrub 

 with regard to altitude, sunshine, and prevailing winds. 



3. That Veronicas of various species often entirely take 

 possession of places where formerly not; a single Veronica 

 existed. 



4. That a Veronica scrub reproduces its like. 



5. That Dracophyllum longifolium, Br. ; Senecio elaagni- 

 folius, Hook. f. ; and Cassinia vauvilliersii, Hook, f., are also 

 very readily reproduced after fire, and will form a large part 

 of the future vegetation. 



6. That fire in such a region as Arthur's Pass does little or 

 no damage to herbaceous plants, grasses, and ferns ; that, on 

 the contrary, certain species, such as Celmisia armstrongii, 

 Petrie, and perhaps Phormium, become more abundant. 



