1853,] Linnean Society. 251 



and contain besides some Arborescent Ferns ; but the hills in the 

 rear of the town retain, especially on their upper parts, their older 

 clothing of bush, consisting chiefly of some trees, such as Fuchsia 

 excorticata, Knightia excelsa, Elteocarpiis Hinau, two or three species 

 of Coprosma, Geniostoma ligustrifolium, Drimys axillaris, Pittosporum 

 tenuifolium, Brachyglottis repanda, and a few specimens of Br. rotun' 

 difolia. These are, in the denser parts of the bush, accompanied by 

 Piper excelsum, Ripogonum parvifiorum (or Supple-Jack), climbing 

 species oiMetrosideros, and Dicksonia squarrosa and Cyathea dealbata, 

 which are the commonest species of Tree-ferns. Cyathea Me- 

 dullaris Mr. Ralph found but once in this locality ; and of C. deal- 

 bata he mentions having found a single specimen with a trifurcate 

 stem, about 12 or 14 feet in height, and each of its divisions rising 

 close to each other to a height of 4 feet. Smaller ferns, such as 

 Hymenophyllum demissum and H. dilatatum, accompany these ; Tri- 

 chomanes reniforme is occasionally met with in extensive patches ; 

 and Poly podium Billardieri is by far the commonest of climbing ferns. 

 During the winter season (generally from May to September) the 

 gullies, being furnished with a steady supply of water, produce 

 numerous Cryptogamic plants, which Mr. Ralph states that he has 

 closely observed, but of which he can at present give only a brief 

 notice. Of most of these he expects to be able to obtain the fructi- 

 fication, by subjecting them to a period of confinement in Ward's 

 cases, in which with a less moist, but more regularly charged atmo- 

 sphere, they seem well disposed to fruit. He has thus succeeded in 

 fruiting Jungermannia hymenophylloides ; and suggests this mode of 

 cultivation to those who are desirous of obtaining fruiting specimens 

 of Mosses, Jungermannice, &c. Of Fungi Mr. Ralph has collected 

 about thirty species, while the list given in M. Raoul's work includes 

 only eleven or twelve. He particularly notices Ileodictyon cibarium, 

 which makes its appearance in June and July soon after heavy falls 

 of rain, and a brick- red Polyporus {P. sanguineus of the ' Voyage au 

 Pole Sud ' 'i) as abundant in some places. He is inclined to think 

 that in many instances mere varieties have been described as species. 

 Thus he thinks that the two so-called new species of Parsonsia 

 described in M. Raoul's ' Choix des Plantes ' are only varieties of 

 P. heterophylla ; he has been unable to distinguish the two supposed 

 species of Drimys ; and in other instances he believes the differences 

 to depend mainly upon the climate, temperate enough in sheltered 

 situations, but severe in places exposed to the cold south-easterly 

 gales either of winter or summer. Among the microscopic Fungi, 

 Mr. Ralph particularly mentions a species of Trichia ; the common 



